The Circle
by Heatherlyy
Summary: Sakura meets a younger Kakashi on a reconnaissance mission through time. KakaSaku.
1. A Gift Through Time

**The Circle**

Chapter 1: A Gift Through Time

_Author's Note: First chapter of my first fic! Huzzah!_

* * *

"Okay, are you ready?"

Sakura sighed.

"Oh, get that scowl off your face, Forehead. You haven't even seen it yet," Ino said, flicking her long bangs out of her eyes with a whip of her head. Sakura just continued to frown up at her friend, refusing to turn around to face the mirror. Thankfully someone knocked at the door then, and based on the timid sound of it, it was their third team member.

"Just look already!" Ino said over her shoulder as she went to answer the door.

This was worse than the kimonos, having to sip her tea like a geisha, and the kneeling to open doors act all combined. Sakura had always been proud of her pink hair, and now her mission required her to dye it. Why exactly, Tsunade had refused to say yet, but anyone attached to their body parts knew better than to question her.

Sakura sighed again. She better just get it over with.

Turning around, she clenched her jaw at the girl she did not recognize in the mirror. Sure, the hair was the same length, and there was the same pair of green eyes looking back at her… but it was so wrong. Sakura looked normal. Her hair was brown. Brown like mud. Ino and Hinata came into the bathroom as Sakura tried to keep herself from grinding her own teeth to dust, looking in the mirror over her shoulder. Seeing their own flashy blond and black-blue hair didn't help.

"Ah, your hair looks nice, Sakura," Hinata said politely, though she didn't meet her eyes in the mirror. She must have seen the murderous look on Sakura's face, as she quickly amended, "It still has a pink-ish tint, I suppose…" Hinata trailed off into silence.

"This was the best color you could pick, Ino-pig?" Sakura ground out.

"Well, yeah," Ino went on unfazed, "anything lighter would have been too close, and anything darker would have made you look paler than Orochimaru. Hinata's right, too. It's not just brown… it's almost burgundy."

"_Almost_," Sakura chortled angrily. Hinata must have seen the aneurysm pop in her head, because she was looking away now as if Sakura would claw her eyes out any moment.

Sakura sighed again, reaching up to touch it hesitantly. "Well, at least it's still soft. I have to give you that," she said to Ino. The stupid blond practically glowed at that.

"Alright then, we're ready! Let's gooooo!" Ino trumpeted, marching out of the bathroom and appearing to grab a number of random items and cram them into her already-full backpack. Sakura watched herself in the mirror for a moment longer as Hinata trailed out as well. Ever since she'd known the word pink, she'd considered herself special for her hair. _Don't be so superficial, Sakura_, she told to herself. _You don't need pink hair to be a stand-out kunoichi. _

Sakura gave herself a grim smile and tried to swallow her disdain for the muddy-haired girl in the mirror. Since the day she'd cut her hair to save her life, her interests had certainly changed. It was safe to say she no longer desired to swim in the shallow end of the pool very often these days with hobbies like fashion and make-up, unlike many kunoichi she knew. However, her hair had always been a part of her identity. Now who was she? Sakura looked herself up and down. She'd always been a thin, lean girl without half the curves of most of her friends. Even when her metabolism slowed somewhat as she entered her second decade of life, her femininity remained subtle. Only when one looked past the flat planes of her stomach and the strength in her legs and arms could one see the way her narrow waist sloped into a gentle hourglass shape, though there was certainly a little more sand in the bottom half than the top. She had always considered her face to be somewhat unremarkable, and now framed in brown hair, Sakura wondered if her ability to put someone to sleep might rival that of a Sharingan eye. Except from her, people would fall asleep out of boredom.

The young jounin sighed, tugging at the hem of her red vest self-consciously and turning around to view her backside in the mirror. _Yes, it sucks, but with this mission you'll have enough money to dye everything you _own_ pink, and then some, _Sakura tried to convince herself.

Besides, their mission was important… probably. It would have helped her deal with this whole plain hair process if she had any idea what exactly they were supposed to be doing. Tsunade had simply told them to pack light and show up in her office around midnight tonight. Naturally, Ino had found it appropriate to party until they were dragged to work by the skin on their necks, and since she was going to be on their team, Sakura and Hinata had to come too. The latter didn't seem too excited, and as Sakura walked out of the bathroom Ino was cajoling her left and right.

"Um, I'm sorry, I told Naruto I would stop by and say goodbye before we left tonight, so-" Hinata spoke quietly, though she never stuttered anymore. Ever since she and Naruto had really hit it off, Hinata had gained a quiet confidence to her.

"Don't be ridiculous, Hinata! We can't go on this team as strangers," Ino said cheerily, throwing an arm around the dark-haired kunoichi. Hinata looked exasperated and tossed a desperate look to Sakura. She sighed.

"Hinata, just come out for a little while," Sakura said calmly, giving a sweet smile. "Ino won't let you live it down if you don't anyways. I'm sure it won't take long for Naruto to find us." Sakura's smile turned more amused. She was sure that the fellow jounin would turn the town upside-down searching for Hinata if she didn't show up when she said she would. Hinata nodded absently, chewing her bottom lip as if she were thinking the same thing.

"Glorious!" Ino sang, leading them out of the apartment and down the stairs to the streets below. The summer air was thick with humidity and the hum of voices from the bustling shops nearby could be heard.

There was a small pub down the street that they agreed on, mostly because Hinata kept insisting how delicious the garlic fries. Sakura and Ino were surprised by this strange moment of passion from her, and so they let themselves be convinced. Once they got there, Ino steered them directly to the bar bought them the most alcoholic drinks available. Sakura cringed and pushed it away. Hinata took a hesitant sip of hers and only coughed once, to her credit.

"We do have a mission tonight, you know that, right Ino-pig?" Sakura said.

"Have you ever even met our Hokage? She keeps a bottle of liquor in her desk drawer," Ino chortled before she took Sakura's drink and poured it into her own surprisingly empty glass.

"You would know," Sakura said dryly.

"Yes. Bottom left," Ino chirped innocently. Sakura watched her friend's face for a beat, and then burst out laughing. Hinata even joined in with a quiet giggle. Ino patted the quiet girl roughly on the shoulder, making her spill most of her drink.

"Another round over here!" Ino said, and that was far from the last time those words would leave her lips. She met Hinata's eyes for a moment and smiled widely, adding, "Plus some of those garlic fries!"

It only took two more drinks before Ino forgot that Sakura hadn't had anything to drink and stopped insisting, and one drink after that, the dam broke. In Hinata, that is. Sakura watched with a stunned smile as the normally quiet girl blossomed into someone else before her eyes.

Hinata had taken her jacket off, and her deep-blue tank top brought out the blue shine to her black hair. Said tank top was having a little trouble holding on to her greatest assets, and the mesh shirt underneath it didn't hide much. As Hinata shimmied in her seat and the three girls jostled playfully over the last garlic fry, Sakura didn't bother to hold back her laughter, despite how completely they had the attention of every lone man in the room. Even some that weren't alone threw glances their way.

Naruto did find them eventually. At first he insisted Hinata take his coat, but after pressing up against him drunkly and giving him a kiss that even made Ino turn away with a blush, Naruto stopped insisting. He joined them on the bar, and soon enough he was red-cheeked as everyone else.

"-and then, Kiba said, 'No, I don't need your number. I know your scent now.' She - the girl couldn't even look at him - she just ran away - and - and - Kiba just said, 'What?'" Hinata rushed between everyone's laughter. Naruto had spit most of his drink in the bartender's face, and Ino was laying on the bar and banging it with one hand. She looked more like a dying fish in that moment than a kunoichi with a license to kill, and so it became apparent they'd had enough. Sakura stepped over to the bartender discreetly, who was wiping his face clean with a cloth.

She had his attention as she walked up, and it was hard to miss the way his eyes swept down her body and back up, taking his time. Sakura wanted to slap him for being so rude to a paying customer, but she doubted he would help her if she did that.

"My friends over there have had enough," she said, giving what she hoped was her kindest smile. "Could I ask you to avoid all of their further requests for alcohol? The blond ones might be persistent, but at this blood alcohol percentage it's unlikely they'll remember what they're persisting on after a couple of seconds."

The bartender smirked and wiped a clean glass with the same dirty cloth towel, and Sakura could already tell he wasn't taking her seriously. She wanted to smack that stupid cliché out of his hand. The glass was clean already!

"I'm not going to refuse a paying customer, lady," he said in a cocky tone. Sakura's expression hardened some.

"I'm asking you nicely," she insisted, a little more strongly.

"What're you trying to spoil all the fun for? I'll throw in some drinks for free if that's your problem. You girls look like you're having fun over there," he said, but his tone was all wrong. Like having fun was suddenly a very dirty thing to be doing in public, but he didn't mind it.

Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch and her chakra jump to a strong, easily accessed flow. All she had to do was flick a finger at that container of toothpicks, and he would never feel the desire to make another sexual innuendo ever again.

"See this?" Sakura said quietly, still holding her kind smile in place, if not a bit stiffly. She reached up a hand to point to the forehead protector she wore as a hair band. "I'm not just some girl having fun here tonight. I'm looking out for my friends, and if I so much as see your damn face on our end of the bar…"

Kakashi heard them when they came in, but the book in his hands held nearly all of his casual attention, so he didn't look up as Sakura, Ino, and Hinata made a noisy claim at the long corner of the bar. It wasn't unusual for them to do so, after all, and they were hardly the only young people falling all over each other. As the night dawdled on and the bartender continued to refill his drink, he found the letters on the page growing harder and harder to focus on. When the dots above the 'i's started to disappear, Kakashi knew he was suitably intoxicated and he pocketed his book with some coordination difficulties.

An unfamiliar high-pitched laugh caught his attention, and he looked over to see it coming from Hinata. Strange. This was probably her first time drinking so much. Ino, on the other hand, looked red-cheeked and clumsy as usual. She was good at this, much like himself. After a moment he realized Sakura wasn't with them. He must have had more to drink than he'd realized if he'd missed that movement.

The sound of low, angry voices alerted him. She was speaking with the bartender, wearing that sweet smile that held back the bitter undertones of rage she was considering expressing quite soon.

The bartender seemed to be playing with her, and he clearly thought he was being cunning and witty. Sakura's grip on the edge of the bar was vice-like, and he could see the wood straining under the pressure there. With her other hand she was jabbing him in the chest with a finger, and Kakashi could not imagine threats colorful enough to match the ones he was sure she was giving now. He had been under the wrong end of her reckoning enough times to know that expression by heart.

Not interested in seeing the man who had so kindly filled his glass all night strung up by the wrong body parts outside his own establishment, Kakashi pushed himself up slowly and sauntered over, hands in his pockets.

"I think my friend has made her point," Kakashi said as he came up beside Sakura and rested a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, I don't think -" the bartender started suggestively.

"Sakura, I can't remember… what was the name of that last boyfriend of yours?" Kakashi said, interrupting the bartender, though not looking away from him. His old student picked up his tone immediately.

"Hm… Do you mean Satoshi, or Jin? Satoshi and I were most recent, I suppose, but after our last fight he hasn't been dismissed from the hospital," Sakura said casually.

"Oh, Satoshi? I only met Jin. What ever happened to him?"

"I'm not sure," Sakura sighed, looking at her unpolished fingernails as if she were bored, "but I asked around and no one's seen him. I think he's left town after I pushed him out that window back in the winter when he forgot to save me a snowball from the last snow. Remember that? Bastard…"

Kakashi had to hold back the chuckle then, as that had actually been something he'd done… or forgotten to do… for her when she had spent most of the winter on a scouting mission down South. He had hoped she'd forgotten about that by now.

By now the bartender had wiped the same spot on his glass about thirty times. His expression finally had some ill-hidden fear in it. Sakura turned her smile on him again. "Anyways, you'll remember what I asked, right?"

"Y-yes, of course, ma'am… Sir…" He nodded at each of them before hurrying off somewhere else, despite the moans and cries of Ino and Naruto from down the bar.

Kakashi clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth and let out a false little sigh. "I don't think he likes you very much. I thought I taught you how to be cuter than that."

Sakura turned to face him then, tapping her chin with a finger theatrically. "Hm, don't recall that at all." She gave a cheeky grin, and Kakashi looked down at her, his hooded eye crinkling. It was only then, looking at her so close and in better lighting, did he realize her hair. It was brown. With a twinge of pink hidden beneath it. Next to her smiling green eyes, it was a sight that threw him into so strong of nostalgia he had to sit down.

Sakura's smile faded a little, and her brows quirked together in an expression between confusion and amusement. She pretended to ignore that he'd still left his hand on her shoulder as he stared at her dumbly. Sakura could feel the heat of it, and the heavy weight of his gaze made her slightly uncomfortable. Kakashi was seriously drunk tonight. She could tell by the slack in his face and posture - even more than usual - and the way his foot was on top of hers and he didn't even realize it.

"Uh, Kakashi? My foot?" Sakura said with a strain in her voice. She didn't want to punch her old sensei now that they had finally gained some common ground since she'd become a jounin and moved into her own apartment, but she wasn't entirely against that option if he didn't let some blood circulate to her right foot soon.

"Huh? Oh, sorry," Kakashi said slowly, moving his foot but still staring at her strangely. Sakura pursed her lips. Then his hand moved from her shoulder and reached out to brush her hair. First his fingers touched the ends of it just lightly, then his palm pressed against the side of her head, cupping her cheek. She felt her cheeks heat up and hoped it wasn't too atrociously obvious in the dim lighting. Sakura's mouth went slack in an almost dumbfound expression.

What was this? Sakura felt her heart begin to race. For all the fake seriously-wounded boyfriends she'd just invented, she really hadn't had much experience in the arena of love… but this touch seemed more than platonic. His gaze grew more heated, and she saw his eyes move to her lips right as she licked them. Sakura was slightly horrified by the fascination she found in that. Kakashi leaned forward just the slightest, and Sakura worried why she had yet felt the temptation to knock his lights out like the pervert he was. Shouldn't she be feeling that? He was leaning closer, the heat and smell from him wrapping around her. Beneath the alcohol and the reek of the bar, there was his own scent. Subtle, but masculine. Sakura waited. Shouldn't that feeling come up right about now?

Kakashi paused then, and his gaze moved to her hair again. In a more platonic matter, he leaned in and sniffed it.

"Did you just dye this today?" Kakashi asked too casually for their proximity. Sakura pressed her hands against his chest and pushed him back so she could look up at his expression, and she quirked an eyebrow as he seemed to lean into her hands on his chest. It wasn't like Sakura hadn't noticed how attractive he was, or hadn't seen the looks on the faces of those who saw him pull his mask down. She knew he was good-looking, strong of body, strong of mind, and a likeable guy, yet she had never once thought he had an interest in anything other than the women in books. For all he'd spoken of his love life, the man was celibate and asexual as could be in her mind.

"Unfortunately, yes," Sakura said cautiously after a pause. "It's for a mission I'm leaving for tonight."

"Oh," Kakashi said lowly. There was a long pause as he looked at her with the eyes of a desert traveler who has reached an oasis. Then he seemed to remember her hands pushing him back, and he took them with his own and held them out in front of him, leaning back to a completely safe distance as he did so. "Oh… Hm." Kakashi seemed reluctant for a moment, and then he set her hands down with a sigh. He blinked. After that, all weirdness was gone from his face and replaced with that timeless, bored look of his.

"Uh, I can't tell if you just winked at me or blinked," Sakura said with a forced teasing tone, as she worked hard to hide the anxious edge to her voice. Her heart was still hammering from those bedroom eyes he had given her, but she refused to think about what all that really meant.

"It's clear you have seen through my masculine wiles," Kakashi said in a deadpan voice that Sakura knew to be sarcasm.

"Sorry, Casanova, do some more research first," Sakura taunted with a grin, patting the pocket that Icha Icha was sticking out of. A pang of realization struck across Kakashi's face that was surprisingly realistic for one of their usual witty spats, and he pulled the book out of his pocket.

Then he held it out to her.

"Here," he insisted when Sakura stood there with a dumb look on her face, having expected another retort from him. "It's for your mission." Sakura snorted and opened her mouth to retort, but something about the intensity that had returned to his gaze made her stop and take the book gently. She held it in front of her like it was something mysterious, then she tucked it in the hem of her shorts. Kakashi's eyes seemed to follow the movement too closely, lingering on where the book was pressed against her hip.

"Well, I ought to be going," Kakashi said, standing up suddenly with a wobble that made Sakura unsure whether she should reach out and help or yell 'Timber!' and dive for cover. He paused on the spot to regain his sense of balance and direction. Then his expression changed, as if he'd just remembered he'd left the oven on at home. Which was entirely possible, and likely.

"Oh, and I'm ticklish only exactly right here, beneath my 10th rib on the right side. Don't tell anyone that." Kakashi pointed to the exact spot, which Sakura knew she could locate easily due to her medical training, but was unsure what in the world this man was talking about. Her flabbergasted look didn't stop him. "Also," he said, raising an accusing finger at her, "you need to trust me more often. I'm right about the blue one. When it comes to it, you can always use my one weakness."

Sakura blinked and watched him for a long moment, waiting for the next weird thing to pop out of his mouth. He simply stared at her, as if this was some normal conversation they were having.

"You mean Icha Icha? I've always known that!" Sakura teased, though her face was still unsure. Kakashi blinked at her blankly, and then gave a slightly lopsided smile.

With that, he turned and gave his characteristic hand-flick wave. "See you around, Sakura." Kakashi walked very straight for a man as drunk as he talked, aside from the occasional overstep or understep every now and then.

Sakura slumped onto a bar stool in defeat. _Well, that was weird. What was he on about anyways? _Sakura had never been normal, but that had been abnormal even for him. That was saying a lot.

When his frame disappeared out the swinging front door into the dark night, she remember herself and glanced at the time.

11:38PM.

Shit.


	2. Makoto's Technique

**The Circle**

Chapter 2: Makoto's Technique

_Note: The last "Sakura" in Ch1 is actually supposed to be "Kakashi." XP_

* * *

"You smell beautiful, Sakura," Hinata slurred from where she was slumped over Sakura's back.

"Thank you, Hinata," she smiled to herself, stopping for a moment to shift Hinata's weight better. It wasn't difficult at all to carry the slight girl on her back, though it kept her to a short jog and she couldn't bound across the tops of the buildings like she would have preferred to. They seemed to draw a lot of eyes this way, and Sakura smiled sheepishly or glared venomously depending on how said eyes looked at them.

"Do you think Ino will remember everything we need?" Sakura pondered aloud. Upon informing them of the time, Ino and Hinata had laughed raucously. Not worried at all. So Sakura was left to worry for all three of them, and sent Ino to get their things from her house seeing as Sakura would be slower than normal carrying Hinata anyways. Even though she had cut off their flow of drinks a while ago, the poor girl was still extremely inebriated. She probably could still walk on her own, but not close to fast enough for Sakura.

"Hmm… Ts-tsunade said we would - hic - be provided for anyways," Hinata said slowly, letting out a hiccup mid-sentence. Sakura nodded, not realizing Hinata's eyes were closed as she thought more about their mission. The day of the debriefing hadn't been very helpful.

"You three have been chosen specifically for this team. Out of all jounin available for such a mission, you are the best match. One more man will be joining you the day of, but he is not employed as a shinobi of this village. He's just a civilian here, but he will he your team leader for this mission," Tsunade said, folding her hands in the only paper-stack-free spot on her massive desk.

"What? A civilian leading us? That doesn't make any sense. What does he know?"

"A lot, Ino. Much more than you three combined. You will understand, considering the nature of your mission."

Ino made a noise of discontentment, but folded her arms over her chest and swallowed her retort.

"As I was saying," Tsunade continued with her eyes closed, "this mission is highly unusual. Possibly the first of its kind. There is an assassin here that we are having a very hard time finding or fighting against. So far his successes have not outweighed his failures, but he knows things only I should know and is proving to be a very strong threat. We need to locate him and find out who he's working for, how he's done so well, and why. We think we have a good lead on him, but the nature of the mission means you must be extremely secretive and subtle. Ino and Hinata, both of you have skills that will be vital here, and I expect you to keep them reasonable, Sakura. You will be going completely undercover, here in Konoha." She must have heard their jaws hit the floor, as she held up a hand to silence any questions.

"This will all make sense when you meet your team leader tonight. His name is Makoto Asahi, and his slight amount of training is limited to his technique. I will let him explain it to yourself, because it's… complex. I only bring you here today to prepare you, and let you know that I will take it personally if you do not give your team leader the ultimate respect he deserves."

Tsunade paused for a moment to let the threat linger, and then Shizune knocked and entered, speaking with the Hokage in hushed tones. She turned back to the team. "Okay, go on, shoo now. Bond and enjoy your last day here. I will see you again promptly at midnight. Pack only vital personal items, as everything else will be provided. Oh and Sakura, dye your hair something less ostentatious."

With that, the girls were booted out of the office.

"Less ostentatious? What for?" Sakura complained as they walked out of the building together into the summer sun.

"Yeah, what does 'ostentatious' even mean?" Ino agreed. Sakura snorted and Hinata looked away tactfully.

"I wonder what she meant by our last day here… she said our mission would be in Konoha," Hinata wondered aloud, changing the subject. Together the three girls had simply rubbed their chins in thought, but finding no good ideas, gave up on brainstorming before they'd even gotten out from under the shadow of the Hokage's tower.

In the light of the crescent moon, the Hokage tower was wrapped in long, eerie shadows. Not a single light shone from any window, and the streets were utterly quiet. One woman walked by briskly, clutching her jacket tighter around her despite the warm summer night, as if to keep the shadows out. Sakura stopped before the grand steps that just seemed eerie now. Hinata's steady, soft breathing in her ear was all she could hear.

"Hinata, we're here," Sakura said gently, shifting to set the girl down. Hinata mumbled something incoherent about Naruto, but found her footing easily enough.

Hinata rubbed her eyes sleepily and yawned in a way that was simply adorable. Sakura wished she looked more like that when she was tired. In reality, she usually looked like she'd been beaten up, drowned, and then rolled in down feathers. Of course, she couldn't really help the last bit - her comforter had a mysterious hole in it somewhere that leaked feathers in the night.

"I was dreaming that I was riding the Kyuubi… He was soft and smelled like strawberries," Hinata said sleepily. Opening her eyes more, she looked around then down at herself wearily as if to gage the damage. Sakura smirked.

"I always wondered why my conditioner was significantly lower every time Naruto used my shower," she said with a laugh, and she could see Hinata blush even in the dark. "How sober do you feel?"

"Ah, I'm okay. Just tiired… I think I'll be able to hide it. Coffee would certainly be nice…" Hinata said, still rubbing one eye like she was digging for gold.

The sound of foot falls approaching then made Sakura look up, as Ino slowed to a stop next to them with three huge bags. She was sure she hadn't packed that much. From the top pocket of one, she pulled a large closed-top coffee mug. Sakura could smell it almost immediately, and it made her mouth water.

"I grabbed some extra things, and I brewed up some of your coffee, Sakura. I figured we would need it," Ino said, putting the coffee mug into Hinata's small, searching hands. Evidently she had done more than just that, based on the scent of Sakura's own perfume on her. Well, it was better than the stink of booze.

Striding up the steps to the Hokage's office, the three girls were silent aside from the gentle patter of their footsteps. For the first time, they felt the trepidation that normally preludes a mission. This mission in particular seemed especially daunting and mysterious.

Sakura thought back to Kakashi, and the way he'd acted at the bar. She still couldn't understand what that all was about - the hand on her cheek, the look in his eyes… It wasn't unlike him to be a little more flirtatious when drunk, but there was an intensity in him then that Sakura had never seen before. She could feel her cheeks heating at the thought. Once this mission was over, would their relationship be any different? Or would he act like he had never looked at her that way?

Ino reached up a fist and knocked on the office door pertly. The sound-proofed room gave nothing away, but when Hinata straightened up, Sakura and Ino did as well. A moment later, the door swung open, and warm light spilled into the dark hallway. Tsunade was wearing her usual outfit, except she had traded in her pants for pink pajamas. There were tiny bunny faces all over them. Sakura bit her cheek to keep from smiling.

"A little late," Tsunade said in a tired tone, looking them over critically. Hinata visibly squirmed under her gaze, and it was unlikely that the Hokage missed the fact that they'd been drinking.

"Hinata's an early riser, so this is a bit rough on her," Ino spouted a little too boldly as the three girls made their way into the office.

"Ah, well - yes…" Hinata started to correct the blond, but Ino glared daggers at Hinata, who promptly shut up. Sakura cleared her throat, and pinched Ino on the arm. _Way to be subtle_, she thought. Ino winced slightly, but at least knew better than to start yelling about it.

Lounging in a large chair that had been placed next to Tsunade's desk was a man. He certainly looked quite ordinary, wearing khaki pants and a faded shirt that had a hole in the neck seam. _Typical outdated man clothing_, Sakura scoffed inwardly.

"This will be your team," Tsunade said to the man, "Sakura, Ino, and Hinata. Girls, this is Makoto." They all nodded, and Sakura gave him a small smile, trying to hide her skepticism. Makoto's eyes moved past each one to Sakura, and she saw his eyebrows twitch just the slightest. Her smile hardened at that, and her hands twitched in response with the desire to curl into fists.

"They look great, Tsunade. Especially this one… Sakura, right? You have potential. You're practically glowing with it," Makoto said suggestively, and Sakura felt her patience snap. She'd had enough sexual innuendos tonight, and to hear him get away with that in front of her teacher and Hokage pissed her off like nothing else. Hardly before he'd finished getting the words out of his mouth, Sakura's hand snatched a paper weight off Tsunade's desk and hurled it at him, though she had the generosity to aim for his foot. Quicker than even some shinobi she had thrown things at, Makoto shifted his foot just enough for the paper weight to miss. Instead it hit the ground with a loud crack, and Tsunade put her hands to her temples.

"Sakura, please, control your inner demons. What Makoto _meant_ to say," Tsunade flashed him a glare to which he looked away and smiled innocently, "was that he can literally see your potential as a glow. That's part of his ability." There was a short moment of stunned silence.

Ino and Sakura met eyes, and Ino let out an unattractive snort as she failed to hold back her laughter. That only made it more difficult for Sakura, who bit her cheek enough to taste blood as she watched Ino press a hand over her mouth rather impolitely, her whole body shaking with giggles. Hinata coughed tactfully to hide her own laugh.

"The mastery of time and space," Tsunade continued as if the three kunoichi weren't fighting severe cases of the giggles.

"I'm sorry, Tsunade… I don't understand. That's not possible. If it's true, why haven't we heard of it before? No doubt people would be killing to use this man. Literally," Sakura said.

"That's why Makoto and his family chose to move to Konoha. For many generations they have entrusted the secret of their technique to only those they knew would use it well, though that person was not always the Hokage. In addition to being able to travel backward and forward through time, Makoto can see the potential of… time travel in people. I don't know how to say it. Makoto, please," Tsunade said, growing annoyed with herself and gesturing to the man who was still sitting in that chair looking like the cat who ate the canary.

At first he was quite unremarkable, with his plain clothing and simple black hair cut close to his head. However, Sakura noticed now that his face was actually more interesting. Makoto had cat-like eyes and a fox-like smile on his shapely lips, though his features were softened by an unremarkable rounded nose and a strong jaw line with a gentle slope. His complexion was very olive and his hair was black, but in this lighting Sakura found it difficult to tell his eye color.

"It's not so different from how Hinata can see chakra," he said, surprising said kunoichi into tucking her hair behind her ear shyly. "Each moment in time and space has a… color, sort of, but the way I sense it isn't so visual. It's just a feeling. Some people are very heavily colored by the time they pass through - meaning essentially that they have little choice in the matter. Others have less coloring of time, meaning that the possibilities they had to change the course of time were greater." Makoto paused and smiled wider, waving his hand dismissively at them. "You don't need to worry about all that, though. Even I get confused by it all sometimes."

Sakura nudged Ino then, who was letting her jaw hang open like she'd seen a ghost. Makoto ignored their looks, fiddling with what looked like a black rock on a necklace. Sakura knew better than to think it was simple a black rock, but she didn't ask about it.

"Your mission is strictly reconnaissance," Tsunade said as if continuing from some unasked question, "as Makoto has informed that is the only kind of mission possible without harming the web of time. We are interested in information on someone known today as Denna. During the past twelve years, Denna has proved a constant, faceless enemy to Konoha. Things that were supposed to be secrets spread like wildfire, enemies suddenly knew our greatest weaknesses, and most importantly not a single lead of our investigation has been conclusive. At first the Denna's threat was small in comparison to others, but Denna has grown increasingly bothersome with time. We must find out who this person is and how they have so easily infiltrated us. From what is known, we believe Denna to be amongst our ANBU, hence no members of that unit were suitable for this mission."

"The time travel will take you approximately thirteen years into the past. You three will be going under the guise of simple healers from Suna, who are here to receive training at the hospital to support your country. Ino and Sakura, this will require you to dumb down your skills some. All of you will also need to show very little knowledge of your training as kunoichi. As medics-in-training, it is likely you will see many ANBU members up close and personal, and this is where I want you to feel out for leads on who might be corrupting them. Makoto will also be helpful in that, as his ability includes being able to predict the future… _somewhat_," Tsunade ended on a slightly befuddled note.

"Not predict, exactly," Makoto corrected, "It's more like I get hunches about what things will result in. Some things are quite strong and specific, such as that Sakura would throw that paper weight at my foot." He glanced over at her with a hint of a cheeky smile, making her wish Tsunade had more than one paper weight. "Others are vague. For instance, I do not know why or to what ends, but I know that you three are the most ideal for this mission. I can feel it. That's the extent of it."

Sakura shifted her weight skeptically, though her face held slight awe. She wondered what it must be like to live a life as Makoto did. He seemed normal enough, slouching slightly in his chair and tapping his fingers on the arm rests casually. Just then, he seemed to catch her staring, and he gave Sakura an impish look.

What did he see in her, exactly? Colors? Or wait, it was less color, right? She frowned a little, glaring back at him stubbornly, but when Tsunade began to speak again she used it as an excuse to look away.

"So you are to listen to Makoto as your troop leader. While you will be living in the past and technically everything you will do has already happened, he has still expressed to me the dangers in moving against the natural flow of time. This window is longer than most, and due to it coming out just before Denna started causing trouble, we've chosen it for this mission. In fact, it's about time you go. At the door are bags packed for the three of you. They should contain everything you need. You can take a couple more things of your own, but they must fit in that bag."

Sakura added only a couple of things, including Icha Icha and some extra money. Ino seemed intent on stuffing her bag until the seams of it were groaning under the stress, while Hinata simply stood quietly with her hands folded.

Tsunade stood up and stretched then, stifling a yawn. "Makoto, take it from here. I have a meeting in five hours and Shizune will be waking me up in four, I'm sure…" With that, the Hokage shuffled out of the room.

"Alright then, shall we?" Makoto said, rubbing his hands together as he stood up. He walked to a random, yet apparently quite specific, point in the room and positioned himself just so. "If you would each put a hand on me, and hold onto your bags, we can go. Just relax yourselves, it will feel disorienting."

The three girls did as they were told, standing beside him and resting their hands on his shoulders as he began a series of complex hand movements. Some Sakura recognized, some went too quickly to be seen, and some were entirely foreign to her. She closed her eyes and tried to relax more, but she could still almost hear Hinata trembling in her boots.

Makoto mumbled something under his breath, and then it happened. Sakura felt the ground vanish from beneath her, and just as suddenly she couldn't feel her body anymore. A sense of panic filled her, but when she opened her eyes it was done. They were no longer in the Hokage's office, but standing high up in a tree on a very wide, solid branch. Sakura gasped, and found the air felt different. Her head reeled with the change.

"Sit down if you have to," Makoto said, and Sakura looked up to see Hinata clutching her stomach, pale as a sheet. Ino had more color to her cheeks, but still looked somewhat unstable. Sakura was surprised to find she was leaning on the trunk of the giant tree they were in. They had to be miles outside of Konoha to be in a tree this big.

"Where are we? Why aren't we in Tsunade's office?" Sakura asked, and her voice surprised her by sounded so wobbly. Makoto seemed all too comfortable from where he was resting his weight on one leg and playing with the hem of his bag.

"My technique is not so forceful as other time-space techniques, such as Kakashi Hatake's Mangekyou. It's a terrible habit to go about just tearing the time-space continuum wherever you want, and when it comes to time travel it's stepping on some serious butterflies to do so. I use natural rifts to travel, so while that allows us more freedom while we're here, it can be a bit… random," Makoto said, lazily gesturing at the tree they were in.

"Wait, what do you mean stepping on butterflies?" Ino said, looking somewhat frustrated as she smoothed her unsullied blond hair.

"If you step on so much a butterfly here, the whole world can be changed in the future," Hinata said drearily. Sakura's instinct as a medic was to search for a bucket, but she pushed that silly impulse away. Hinata was completely allowed to blow her cookies in the woods after they'd jumped into the past in two seconds.

"Exactly," Makoto said in a pleased tone. "When you force your way through time and space, it's unnatural. If you change a single thing, you change everything. However, if you follow a natural rift, you're just one of the many things slipping through - it's a natural process. So while stepping on a butterfly today can still effect things, it's much less likely. In fact, some things in the future might actually have happened because of what you're going to do here. However, it's still quite possible that you may create changes and go against the natural flow of time. That's why I'm here. I have a good sense of what does and doesn't cross lines, so just be cautious about what you do and always check with me."

Sakura, having regained her sense of normalcy, was already adjusting her bag to be worn over her shoulder easily. The long shadows of the sun told her that it was daytime here, but either late or early. She hoped it was late - her body was still on midnight time, and she could really use some sleep. It was warm enough that she felt okay in her shorts and shirt, but the air had a crisp bite to it that signaled autumn. A few trees in the distance that had turned yellow and orange confirmed that.

"Hm," Makoto said, looking around. "Before heading to Konoha, we'll need to stop by the place of a friend of mine's. He has our identification papers and everything else we'll need."

"Okay, which way?" Ino asked. Hinata copied Sakura and slung her pack over her shoulder. Makoto pointed a certain direction, but made no move. After a moment of pause, he looked to Sakura.

"Carry me down? I'm not much of a shinobi," he said in an attempt to seem sheepish. Sakura could see that he was slightly pleased she was the one best suited for the job. She did have great chakra control and strength, after all.

Ino scoffed something under her breath and promptly hopped away, pushing herself between large branches gracefully and swinging with a hand where necessary to reach the ground. Sakura growled under her breath, but shifted her bag over her front and gestured for Makoto to climb onto her back. He seemed completely at ease as he did so. Almost too much at ease.

When he was holding on, much to Sakura's discontent, she easily walked down the trunk of the tree. At that angle it felt as though Makoto were lying on top of her, and she held back the instinct to throw him off her. Five feet from the ground, she flipped around abruptly and dropped him, for good measure.

"OOF!" Makoto said as he fell and hit the ground much like a bag of potatoes. Sakura vaulted gracefully down beside him.

"That was for enjoying that," Sakura said as she looked down her nose at him. Makoto gave a truly sheepish grin then, but the no-longer pink-haired kunoichi ignored it as she waltzed after Ino and Hinata.

Soon enough they had reached a small shack that appeared to be built into the side of a tree. Makoto was greeted by a friendly middle-aged man at the door, who wore thick glasses and had a silver tint to his black hair. It didn't take them long to receive their papers and go.

"Haruhi Nam," Hinata said quietly. "That's my name now."

"Sayuri?" Sakura read her own name incredulously. "Let me guess, Ino - you're Ina now? These are ridiculously close for fake names." The girls were holding out their new identification papers to each other for a brief study before they reached the gates of Konoha.

"Actually, I'm Izumi Asahi," Ino boasted.

"Ah, well, they don't need to be much different. Nobody really looks for time travelers. Besides, if they're close to your real names they'll be easier to remember and respond to," Makoto rationalized from where he was walking behind them.

"What about yours, Makoto?" Hinata asked politely.

"You think Makoto's my real name?" He said with an amused grin.

"Yes," the three girls chorused. Makoto laughed then, but didn't correct them. They recognized the forest now. They were growing close, and soon someone would be out to check on their approach and see that they were friends of the hidden village. It wasn't a moment later that Sakura felt someone approaching. When the green-vested ninja appeared suddenly from the trees to stand on the road in front of them, only Makoto seemed truly startled, though they all pretended to be.

"You're the trainees from Suna, aren't you?" He called out to them. Apparently their clothes were suitably Suna, and Sakura's worries about the overly pale skin of Hinata had been unfounded. She wondered when Makoto had come around to set everything up here in the past for them.

Sakura hadn't been the only one to disguise her appearance somewhat. Ino's long blond hair was down around her shoulders with her bangs pinned up. Hinata had put in special contacts to give her normal brown eyes and wore an off-white headband that made her look even more meek than usual.

"Yes. We have our papers here, sir," Hinata spoke up.

The ninja walked closer. Sakura looked closely at his face but didn't recognize him. She wondered if he was alive or dead thirteen years in the future. He took the papers from her and looked them over closely. Seeming satisfied, he handed them back.

"You're not a medic," he said accusatorily of Makoto.

"No, I'm just here as an escort to these ladies and a blessed visitor. I have always found my home-town far too dry and hot for my taste," Makoto shrugged with a charming grin. "Besides, Mrs. Asahi insisted I not leave her alone!" At that, he threw an over-friendly arm around Ino's waist. Sakura saw her fleeting shocked expression only because she knew her friend fairly well. After that brief moment, Ino was composed and smiled just slightly as she put her arm around his waste.

"Someone has to look after the house while I'm at work," Ino teased pleasantly. Everyone laughed, though Makoto's laughter sounded a little strained and Sakura wondered how hard Ino was gripping the man around his waist.

"Alright, go on through. I hope you enjoy Konoha," the ninja touched his forehead protector in a motion not unlike a salute, then bounced off into the trees and disappeared again. Sakura watched the trees and waited until he was gone before she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. The sound of scuffling behind her made her turn around.

"AH! H-hey, I had to! We're documented as a newlywed couple," Makoto was saying. Sakura turned around to see him on the ground. Ino stood over him with her fists clenched.

"You could have told me that before! Ugh!" Ino exclaimed, tossing her long hair and walking away down the path towards Konoha. Makoto pushed himself up slowly, dusting the dirt off his clothes.

"Well, she'll get over it," Makoto said to Sakura and Hinata, who were simply watching him with their arms crossed.

"You had better hope so," Sakura said slowly with a laugh. They continued after Ino, whose stride was unwavering as she lead them along. Eventually she fell back to walk with them. They kept up a pleasant conversation as they entered the wide open gates, subtly ignoring Makoto's attempts to join in. Only Hinata would respond to what he said, but Makoto seemed unfazed by the other two childishly ignoring their mission leader.

Sakura and Ino fell silent for a moment as they passed a small group of shinobi who were huddled up at a ramen bar. Normally they would be a part of that, but today they were strangers in their own home.

At the bar, Sakura recognized a head of fluffy silver hair. She felt her heart skip a beat, and she had to force her feet to keep a steady pace. There was a strong desire in her to see the younger face of her teacher. He wore a black sleeveless shirt, and even from her distance in the fading light she could see the definition in his arms. Sakura noticed he seemed to sit with his back straighter, and looked less carefree than usual. He seemed to be in an intense conversation with the man next to him. Possibly about a mission? She knew Kakashi would be in ANBU at this time.

Makoto was suddenly walking beside her then. He was looking at her warily, and for the first time it showed that he was invested in their mission for more than the laughs.

"Remember what I was saying about butterflies, Sayuri," Makoto said in a low, casual tone. Ino and Hinata looked over, confused about what had brought that up.

"I know that, Makoto," Sakura said as she stuck out her bottom lip and looked pointedly ahead.

"Mhm," Makoto agreed without sounding like he actually agreed. Sakura frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. What had made him say that? She'd only been looking at him. After all, she had a right to be curious. Had Makoto had one of those intuitions of his?

Soon, they reached the apartments they would be living in. Sakura remembered this area of town as older and slightly worn down, so she was surprised to see it freshly painted. Lights that had once flickered and been covered with cobwebs were clean and shone brightly in the quickly fading light of day. Her first day in the past was already ending, and Sakura was still unsure whether she was ready to face the next day. She had gone undercover plenty of times before, but having to act like a stranger to many of the same people she'd grown up with was different. Based on the somber silences also coming from Ino and Hinata, Sakura was sure they probably felt it too.

"Here we are… Sayuri, you and Haruhi have B26, and Izumi and I will be in A22, just across the courtyard there," Makoto said, handing out keys. Sakura wrinkled her nose slightly at the new names, but took the key without protest. Ino was another story.

"With you, alone? I never -" Ino started.

"Izumi, honey, your jokes burn like an acid on my poor heart!" Makoto joked aloud, but there was a serious undertone to his words. The girls understood immediately. They were undercover now, completely. It was a mission, and however much Makoto annoyed them, he was their team leader. Sakura gave Ino a pat on the shoulder and Hinata gave her a sympathetic look before they headed towards the large, glowing letter 'B' on the first building. 'A' was farther in, and Ino followed Makoto sullenly. They spoke in hushed voices, and if Sakura hadn't known any better she would have been fooled that they were a couple in an argument.

When they reached the apartment, Sakura found it satisfactory. It was already furnished, though the pieces were all a little too antique for her taste. Hinata let out a long sigh as she sat on their gray loveseat. Sakura joined her.

"Long day, huh?" Sakura said quietly. Hinata simply nodded. There was a long moment of silence then, as Sakura considered what she would do with her free time. Would she make friends here? Would they be people she already knew - or would know? She shook her head. The past and present tense usage was getting confusing.

"I'll take the smaller room," Hinata said suddenly, dragging her bag to her room. Sakura wondered if the hangover had hit her yet.

"Drink some water before you go to sleep," Sakura called after her softly, having no doubt that Hinata heard her despite the lack of response. For a couple more minutes Sakura sat there, staring blankly out the window as the sky turned pink to purple to a swarthy indigo.

When the first star glimmered into existence, she hoisted herself out of the lovingly soft loveseat and took her bag to the larger room. The bed was a queen on a dramatic frame with long posts. Behind it was a painting of a birch forest in the fall that Sakura liked. Across the room was a small desk, and next to that was a sliding glass door that exited onto a modest porch overlooking the street next to the building.

Only half-noticing these things, Sakura threw her bag on the floor, closed the door, and let herself fall onto the bed. Before she'd even mustered the strength to search for the lip of the covers under the multiple decorative pillows, she was asleep. Not another thought crossed her mind for the next nine hours.


	3. Spunky Sayuri

**Chapter 3. Spunky Sayuri**

"Sa-sayuri…" A voice called out hesitantly. Hinata? No, she had a different name now. What was it?

"Sayuri, wake up. We need to be at the hospital for orientation in forty minutes," Hinata was saying. There was a hand jostling her shoulder now. Sakura lifted her eyelids slowly to see the strange new brown eyes of her team member looking at her with sympathy, and a slight amount of unease.

"F-forty mm… What time is it?" Sakura mumbled into her pillow.

"Time to go, Forehead," Ino's voice boomed out. Sakura could see the blond now, wearing her medic uniform with her blond hair pinned back but still worn long down her back. Hinata was in a medic uniform as well.

"Oh, shut up! It's just a nickname. I'm sure lots of people call their friends that," Ino was saying in response to some comment Sakura hadn't heard.

"Well…" Makoto started, but blanched and quieted at the fierce look on Ino's face. Sakura sat up suddenly as she saw his face peeking around her doorframe. Something about his presence made her remember the previous day with a sudden clarity. They were on a mission… and Sakura was the last awake? They must have slipped into another dimension during their time travel.

"Didn't your alarm go - oh, I see…" Hinata trailed off as she noticed the alarm that had been smashed to bits. Sakura had wondered who had set that damn hell-spawn to such an ungodly hour when she had crushed it to pieces in her half-asleep state two hours ago. Now she realized it must have been her roommate.

"I guess I did that. I was pretty tired," Sakura laughed and put a hand on her head, a bit embarrassed now. Hinata looked at her, a little shocked still, but laughed some anyways.

"Your medic uniform should be in your bag," Hinata responded, standing up and walking out with a little nod and smile. Sakura blinked. That girl was so perfect sometimes it was almost disgusting. She could certainly use a little more of Naruto's influence.

"Thanks, Hi- I mean, Haruhi," Sakura said with a little smile.

The three walked into the living room as 'Haruhi' shut Sakura's bedroom door behind her. Sakura quickly dressed, stopping in the bathroom once to brush her teeth and run a brush through her hair hastily. The new color didn't shock her so much to see anymore, though it still made her disappointed in her appearance. Oh well. The less outstanding, the better. Being here made that much more obvious.

Sakura packed a small pack for the day, and as she ran through her bag one more time, she paused as her hand touched paper. Icha Icha. She pulled it out and thumbed the corner thoughtfully. Maybe she would need it for her mission after all. Sakura doubted shadowing a medic that had been trained before Tsunade's arrival as Hokage would be very riveting. She threw the book in next to her hair brush and water bottle, just as Ino threw her bedroom door open.

"_Sayuri,_" Ino said with subtle contempt for the name, "we must be going now. We can't misrepresent Suna by being late on the first day!" Ino put her hands on her hips, as if that would be the worst thing in the world. Sakura chuckled lowly and stood up.

"I'm ready," she said, though the knots in her stomach begged to differ.

It was a slow day at the hospital. Sakura and Ino had stifled their boredom as best as they could as they were given an even slower tour of the facilities. Sakura could have drawn the hospital's layout by hand with her eyes closed in her sleep while also reciting the Arabic alphabet backwards, and here they had to watch as the curly-haired, elderly nurse was explaining the call system as if they were four years old. At least Hinata was smart enough to ask questions now and then, though this was probably her first tour of any hospital as a medic. Sakura and Ino had given her a brief explanation of the most basic things on the way there, but hopefully Suna's lacking medical facilities would be enough to allow Hinata some ignorance.

"Oh, I suppose it's about time for you to start your shadowing," the nurse said, and Sakura perked up considerably. Maybe now she would actually get to do something.

They walked from room to room as the nurse asked medics whether they would take a shadow that day. Sakura wondered why this hadn't been set up beforehand. Tsunade would have already had them assigned to proper teachers for their abilities. This old nurse hadn't even asked what their current abilities were. Sakura had to hold back a frustrated sigh.

Eventually they were paired off. Ino was stuck with another blond, who was short, peppy, and never seemed to run out of things to say. Sakura worried for that medic's health, but could do nothing. Hinata was assigned to a handsome male medic, who made Hinata's pale face flush with crimson when he laid a hand on her shoulder and complimented her hair.

Finally, it was Sakura's turn. The nurse asked several medics, all of whom said they were too busy after one glance at Sakura. By the eighth rejection, she could feel a vein in her forehead threatening to burst. She was sure it was the brown hair. She probably looked meek as a mouse and dumb as a doorknob to them. _I'm probably a better medic than all of them combined_, Sakura thought, clenching her hands into fists and grinding her teeth when the nurse wasn't looking.

It was all she could do to keep herself from stomping her feet as they approached the ninth medic. This medic was just a girl, probably a year younger than Sakura was now, with red-brown hair down to the backs of her thighs and a slight build.

"Rouri, are you very busy today?" The nurse asked as they approached. Sakura knew that asking was her fatal flaw. If she had just told them they would have a shadow, Sakura could have been 'learning' twenty minutes ago.

"No, Nan, why?" Rouri turned as she finished her question, and when she noticed Sakura she seemed oddly startled. Despite that, the girl's dark ruby-brown eyes looked steady and confident. Rouri couldn't have been five feet tall, and on top of that her face was freckled and cherubic. Sakura never thought she would see someone less intimidating than Hinata holding an armful of puppies, but here she was.

"Oh, good. I have Sayuri here, and she needs to do some shadowing. She's a trainee from Suna," the old woman, Nan, said. Rouri turned back to concentrate on what she had been filing before, then she faced them with her empty hands running over her medic outfit absently.

"Well, I suppose I can help. Only because our names rhyme," she said with a breathtakingly pretty smile, holding out a hand to Sakura. "Sayuri, I'm Rouri."

"Thank you for letting me shadow. Not many others are so considerate," Sakura said with a gracious smile as she shook Rouri's hand. It was the soft hand of a medic who rarely saw battle. Sakura realized hers must feel calloused and rough from all of her fighting. She could blame it on Suna's climate for now.

So Sakura shadowed Rouri. The girl may have been a medic, but her chakra capabilities were mediocre at best. Sakura was surprised to see that many of the staff were only medically trained in the most rudimentary things, and a lot of them used direct physical treatments like surgeries and stitches for more complicated injuries. She knew that the war had depleted Konoha of many good medics, but _this _many? Sakura could only assume that most of the talented medics must be stuck on missions.

As Sakura shadowed, most of her help involved little more than grabbing things when Rouri needed them. She did her best to pretend she didn't know what Rouri would need before the medic asked for it, but sometimes Sakura's wisdom peeked through. At one point, when she had grabbed the correct suture kit without specification from Rouri, the long-haired medic looked at her with a curious smile.

"Sayuri, how much training have you had?" she asked pleasantly, as she opened the kit and began to suture the wound on her unconscious patient.

"Well, I've been a healer in Suna for a while now. Mostly experience in the field, though. Very basic," Sakura hedged, wishing she had read her own file more closely before leaving this morning.

"Would you like to finish this suture?" Rouri asked. She held out the tweezers.

"Oh, uh, sure," Sakura said, startled. She hesitated once she took the tweezers, unsure just how bad of a medic she should pretend to be.

"Just start here," Rouri said, guiding her hand gently, "and push the needle in just light enough to go through the skin. Imagine you're sewing a banana shut and you don't want to poke the inside." Evidently Sakura's hesitation came across as fear, which reassured her. Sakura nodded, and slowly drew a stitch. It had actually been a while since she'd used such archaic methods, because Sakura's chakra healing was much more efficient and quick. Hopefully that made her look inexperienced enough. She didn't _actually_ want to skewer the poor guy.

Once she was finished, she let Rouri tie the ending knot.

"That was very good. You're more skilled than I thought," Rouri said, which made Sakura laugh nervously. "So you grew up in Suna?"

"Yes, born and raised," Sakura said.

"Do you have family there?" Rouri asked.

"Oh yes," Sakura ventured, cursing herself again for not reading the file. Who knew she would have such a curious teacher? "My family actually inspired me to learn about healing and the medical profession. I've always wanted to be of greater help to them and my village, but I was never the fighting type."

"Same here! My clan is known for putting out talented ninja, though I was never much of one myself," Rouri said with a slight blush as she smoothed her hand over the suture one last time before lowering the patient's gown.

"Oh? What clan?" Sakura said, acting casual as she helped tidy the room some.

"The Yamanaka clan," Rouri said. Sakura nearly swallowed her tongue, but forced herself to concentrate on not dropping the package of scalpels as she pushed them onto an upper shelf. "My father was, that is. He was a lower-level member. My mother wasn't a part of the clan, so I'm even worse off than he was. Still, I always wish I could help out as much as my clan does." Rouri sighed, looking out the window then. Sakura wondered how this girl was related to Ino at all. They couldn't have been more of polar opposites.

"I'm sure you do," Sakura said, finally finding her voice, "You're a really great medic. I only hope to be as good as you are one day."

Rouri seemed pleased by that, but she waved the false compliment off modestly. Just then another patient called for a nurse, and so she and Sakura headed off to help.

The rest of the day was fairly busy, and Sakura was careful to be the most mediocre assistant and shadow possible. Rouri still seemed to compliment her at every turn, but hopefully that was just because she was being polite. As the day went on, Rouri's questions became more and more personal. Sakura struggled to make her answers as neutral as possible, and swore to read her file fully the first chance she got.

Halfway through the day, Sakura was standing behind Rouri as the medic was adding to a patient's chart when the third Hokage himself walked up. Sakura did not bother to hide her slight surprise at seeing him alive again, as she nodded her head respectively. For all he was concerned, she could have been another large, potted plant in the room.

"Rouri, Kakashi Hatake is being admitted right now to room 36. I need you to keep him there until he has healed. His injuries are extensive from his mission that he got back from two days ago… You know how he is. Just keep him here until he's properly healed. I know you can manage that," he said, handing her Kakashi's chart.

"Yes, sir," Rouri said to the Hokage as he walked away. He'd been injured for two days and not come in? So he had been sitting at a ramen bar, probably in pain, not going to the hospital. This was beyond his usual level of ridiculousness. Rouri was already walking away quickly, towards room 36. Sakura quickly picked her jaw up off the floor and assembled herself into an expression of polite curiosity as she hurried after.

"Is that Kakashi of the Sharingan?" Sakura asked casually.

"You know him? Well, I suppose he does get around. Yes, that's him, and he's quite the unwilling patient. Too tough to bother with weak things like caring about his health," Rouri scoffed in a surprising moment of irritation.

When Rouri turned suddenly and pushed a door open, Sakura wasn't sure she was ready to see Kakashi. Especially since he'd put his hand on her cheek at the bar last night. She was relieved to see the copy ninja unconscious on the bed, still wearing the same black sleeveless shirt and his mask over his nose. The rest of him was covered in a pale blanket.

Rouri checked his vitals and seemed to sigh in relief.

"He'll be out for a while longer," she said as she charged around the room adjusting things, her long auburn hair swinging behind her. "I need to check on other patients. I really don't have time to babysit this fool right now. Keep an eye on him, will you? If he wakes up, page me and don't let him leave. Lie if you have to, but don't bother trying to hold him down." Rouri looked at her for a moment as if to check her shadow's resolve. Sakura nodded fervently and tried to look confident. She probably actually could overpower him if necessary, especially with the element of surprise on her side. However, that wasn't exactly the best idea for her cover. Satisfied, Rouri slid out the door with hardly a sound, and Sakura found herself standing in the room feeling a little lost.

She took the moment to stare nakedly. This Kakashi looked fairly similar to his older self upon first glance, but Sakura knew him better than that. The part of his face that did show had fewer lines. There was only the hint of crow's feet on the corners of his eyes, and his skin glowed with youth. His muscles were harder and more defined, and his arms were tanned from an outfit that showed them. In his drugged sleep, his face was utterly relaxed. Sakura realized how easy it would be now to pull that mask down and see his face. Not just his face, but the face of a Kakashi practically the same age as herself.

The curiosity burned in her like the heat of a thousand suns. Sakura lifted her hands as if to do it, but stopped midway. This was wrong. So wrong. What could she say if someone walked in to see the brand new Suna trainee with her fists full of the copy ninja's mask?

Instead she moved her hands down to hover above his abdominal cavity. When she was sure no one was walking towards the door, she pushed her chakra into Kakashi's body to inspect for injuries. Sakura sucked in a breath of surprise. There was some serious internal bleeding happening. No one had attended to him yet? This was a high priority injury.

She bit her lip. It took only one moment of deliberation before she began to stitch together his internal injuries with her chakra. It wasn't the hardest thing she'd ever done, but due to the severity, it took a while. Just as she heard footsteps approaching, she closed up the last internal wound and quickly backed away. Rouri walked in just as Sakura had sat down in a chair.

"No problems yet?" Rouri asked in low tones. Her long hair seemed slightly windblown despite the hospital being entirely indoors. Sakura gave a small smile and shook her head. At that, Rouri was out the door again. Sakura listened to her go for a long time before she turned to look back at Kakashi, who was still sleeping soundly. For a while she watched him, thinking about how odd this all was. Then she grew bored.

Pulling her bag into her lap, she fished through it. After a long drag from her water bottle, she took Icha Icha out and turned to the first page. Without even realizing it, she nodded off.

The bed groaned slightly, and she heard a little hiss of frustration as she sat up quickly. Sakura opened her eyes to see Kakashi halfway out of the sheets, his toes just brushing the floor and his hands on the bed beside him. There was a resigned look in the single dark eye watching her.

"You're a light sleeper," he said with a pang of disappointment. Sakura was surprised to find his voice sounded nearly the same. It was a little less deep in pitch and smoother around the edges, but otherwise it was the same. Familiar enough to make her heart pang with how much she missed the people from _her_ Konoha.

"Of course. I wouldn't have let myself fall asleep otherwise," Sakura said sleepily, straightening her outfit and peeling the Icha Icha book off the side of her face where it had created a seal with her drool. She could have hit herself with the stupid thing. Sakura wondered how long he'd watched her drool and snore before trying to escape.

"Well, I'm healed now, so I'll be going," Kakashi said, putting his weight on his feet gently.

"No, you won't," Sakura said, giving her best sweet smile as she propped her feet up on his bed. Unless he wanted to leap over something, he was trapped. Not that Sakura didn't put that past him. Hell, she'd been surprised that he hadn't gone out the window in the first place.

Kakashi watched her steadily. Sakura blinked back, wondering what he was waiting for. It was then she realized he was probably trying to intimidate her. She laughed at that.

"Lay down, Kakashi. The more willing you are, the sooner I can help you get out of here," Sakura said. Ever since she'd seen him cry when Naruto had accidentally dropped his favorite Icha Icha book into a raging river, little he did could actually intimidate her.

The copy ninja slumped silently on his bed, apparently defeated. Sakura was surprised that that was all it took, but then again he was much younger. She pulled Icha Icha out in front of her, flipping through to find the part she last remembered. Page 6? Really? That was all it took for her to pass out? Either she really was tired or Jiraiya wasn't as good of an author as he thought he was. Sakura picked up where she'd left off.

_Maybe they had always been meant for each other. Aiko could not deny the warm swelling beneath her breast to be love as she watched Hideki slowly bend over to pick a flower and breathe in its scent, and Hideki refused to take his eyes off of Aiko's ample -_

"What are you reading?" Kakashi asked. Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin to hear his voice just beside her. As if to prove he really was Kakashi of the Sharingan, he had snuck up beside her as she'd read.

"N-nothing," Sakura said. She felt her cheeks burn with blush as she slapped the book closed and looked up at him.

"Make-Out Tactics?" he read aloud. If there was anymore blood left in her body that wasn't in her face, it would have gone there. "Are you reading porn? You don't look like that kind of lady, but what do I know..." Kakashi's tone was slightly skeptical, but his eyes were crinkled in a way that said he was smiling. It was no innocent smile, either.

In that moment she didn't bother to think. Sakura clasped the book in one hand and smacked him across the face with it. Automatically the put a slight amount of chakra into the blow, but immediately after she regretted that. Just the fact that her reflexes were quick enough that she'd hit him was probably too big of a hint. So much for undercover.

Kakashi stumbled back onto his bed, holding the side of his face in slight shock. His mask covered most of it, but where she'd hit him above his mask his skin was an angry red. For a moment he watched her, one deep gray eye that seemed to see all. Sakura knew that expression - it was his thinking expression. She often saw it when he was sizing up an opponent. That alone made her slightly nervous, but she glared back without showing it.

He sat back and pulled his sheets over him suddenly, and Sakura had half a second to make herself look bored before Rouri barged into the room. Had she heard? From her tense expression, Rouri looked like she'd seen the whole thing. Sakura blinked at her innocently. Rouri's gaze whirled on to Kakashi, and suddenly the medic seemed calm and kind as usual. _That was odd,_ Sakura thought of her teacher. Rouri smiled at the copy ninja - a complete turnaround.

"I see you've met Sayuri?" she asked politely as she began to check Kakashi's vitals.

"I guess you could say that," Kakashi said slowly, touching his cheek absently and looking out the window. Rouri laughed.

Sakura chewed her lip. Would he tell on her? To be fired would be to fail the mission entirely. Sakura forced herself to stop chewing her lip when she noticed Kakashi look her way.

"She's pretty spunky," Rouri seemed to agree as she lifted Kakashi's shirt to check his abdomen. Sakura knew the injury there like the back of her hand by now, though she'd left the surface wounds for secrecy's sake. Instead, her eyes roved over his smooth, muscled chest and stomach. The temperature in the room seemed to increase by a couple of degrees. He was even better looking now. Sakura looked up to see he was watching her, and she willed herself not to blush, quickly looking away.

"Yeah, spunky," Kakashi said hesitantly, as if there were actually a better word for her. Rouri had her hand over his wound now, and her soft yellow chakra was pouring over it, knitting flesh to flesh. Sakura watched, feeling more like the teacher observing the student than the other way around, but she held back any corrections. She retraced the events of the day, trying to remember what she had done to appear spunky in Rouri's eyes. Sakura had made a distinct effort _not_ to be spunky. She had held the image of Hinata in her mind all day just for that. Apparently she must have failed at some point, or Rouri was not so easily fooled by her as she thought.

"Well Kakashi," Rouri said, chakra flow finished and his wound mostly healed, "I think you're good to go now. I would tell you to get some rest but I know you're not even listening to me right now." Sakura smirked and looked at Kakashi to see him reading the synopsis on the back of Icha Icha with his Sharingan eye. Her jaw dropped open and she let out a hiss, hiding the book. He looked at her, and she could nearly see the thoughts on his face as he closed his left eye. It was porn.

"Mm," Kakashi said noncommittally, looking back at the medic. He really hadn't been listening.

"You can go now, Kakashi. You are adequately healed," Rouri repeated a little more strongly with a smirk, pulling out his IV rather abruptly and tearing the useless blankets off of him.

"Oh, thanks," he said, sounding like he'd listened that time. Sakura stood up and began to help Rouri change the bed sheets. She turned just in time to see Kakashi glance over his shoulder at them before he gave a little wave that had only a portion of the amount of hand-flick his usual one did.

"See ya," Kakashi said, and then he was gone.

When the sun was throwing long shadows through the hospital windows, Sakura yawned and stretched largely.

"Sayuri, it's hardly six at night! Are you tired already?" Rouri laughed at her a little.

"Well, I just arrived in Konoha last night…" Sakura mumbled sleepily.

"Oh, that makes sense. You're done for the day anyways," Rouri said.

"Ah, good. Thank you for your help, Rouri. I hope I can shadow you again soon," Sakura said, doing her best Hinata imitation again.

"Sure, sure," Rouri said, giving another dismissive hand wave. "You know, if you want a little tour around town I'd be glad to show you sometime. Konoha has plenty to do, despite how sleepy it can look sometimes." Rouri smiled up at Sakura, and in that moment she realized that this medic really did think well of her. Sakura couldn't help but smile back, glad to have found a friend so quickly in this new time.

"That would be great," Sakura said, "I'm in the Golden Leaf apartments, number B26." Rouri's responding smile was blinding. Sakura wouldn't have been surprised if she had bounced up and down in happiness. For whatever reason, Rouri had become fond of Sakura.

"Okay! I have some more work to do tonight, but maybe a little later in the evening? You look like you could use a nap anyways," Rouri said, touching the skin under Sakura's eyes.

"Ah, yeah, that sounds great," Sakura said with a little laugh. "I'll see you in a bit then." Rouri nodded and waved as Sakura walked off. She half-wondered where Ino, Hinata, and Makoto had all gotten to.

As she was walking downstairs, she found out. There, behind the desk where usually a dirty blond with fake nails had sat, was Makoto. He was standing in front of the wall of folders when Sakura walked up and slumped over the counter.

"You work here now?" Sakura asked. Makoto turned suddenly, and she realized then that for all his skill in his own technique, he had little skill in any other realms of the ninja life. Such as awareness of who was approaching.

"Oh, Sayuri," Makoto said, using her fake name with ease even when startled. He must be used to this kind of thing. "Yes, I do. I was hoping for a maintenance or janitorial job, but apparently I make a much better desk clerk." He smiled then, and wearing a neat white shirt and pants that actually fit him, Sakura could see why.

"You do clean up pretty well," she said honestly.

"Well, so do you," Makoto replied as his eyes wandered a little too slowly down her uniform, making Sakura regret she'd ever brought it up.

"How's the wife?" Sakura said in monotone, hoping to make her point clear. Makoto scratched his cheek sheepishly, suddenly becoming very busy filing his one folder.

"Ah, I'm afraid we're still at a disagreement," Makoto said simply. Said wife walked up then, dropping her bag heavily on the counter and leaning on it as if there were no strength left in her.

"You look beat, Izumi," Sakura said. It was true. Ino's hair looked as windswept as Rouri's had, and there were dark circles under her clear blue eyes.

"I feel like I haven't slept in a week," Ino said into the crook of her arm.

"Didn't you sleep last night?" Sakura asked, noticing Makoto's shoulders stiffen slightly at that. He seemed to feel Ino's burning glare on him now.

"Hardly. The monkey and I had to share a bed. He snores like boulders rolling down a mountain and he sleeps like he's dead," Ino droned, though Sakura thought she was holding something back. There was a flicker of trepidation in her eyes every time she looked at him.

"Well, you're welcome to sleep at my place tonight," Sakura offered. "I'd offer you my bed too, but I'm not so sure I'm exactly perfect for a silent night either." Ino snorted at that, and Sakura was relieved to see a little smirk on her friend's face.

"On second thought, maybe I'll stay with the monkey. Your forehead takes up the whole bed anyways," she said.

"Shut up, Ino-pig," Sakura said, punching her friend lightly on the shoulder with a little grin.

When Hinata finally met up with them as well, the three girls made their way back to the apartments. Sakura looked back as they left to see Makoto watching them with a dejected look. She wondered if that was for Ino, and for a moment pitied the guy. He wasn't a bad person - he was just a civilian, and so the three kunoichi hardly looked to him with any respect. Sakura made a mental note to be nicer to him from now on.

"I found my day quite challenging," Hinata was saying as they walked the dusty streets in the brisk autumn evening. "I never knew being a medic was so difficult. Some people want more help than you can give, and some don't want help at all." Sakura laughed at that.

"Yeah, guess who I had to babysit today?" Sakura said.

"Who?" Hinata asked.

"Kakashi Hatake. He had some internal bleeding from a huge abdominal wound, and he'd been avoiding the hospital for two days after his mission. I had to watch and make sure he didn't leave before he could be healed," Sakura said as they arrived at the apartment, and she shut the door behind the two girls. Ino slumped onto the couch with a groan and a laugh. None of them seemed surprised to hear that Kakashi was a flight risk.

"Doesn't sound so bad to me. Did you take his shirt off to _examine_ him?" she said.

"Izumi!" Sakura scolded. Hinata had dropped a mug she was grabbing from the kitchen shelf upon hearing that, but Sakura caught it quickly and handed it to her.

"What? He's pretty hot. I bet especially so now. He's got to be our age now, right?" Ino said, and Sakura could hear the smile in her voice even though she could only see the very top of her blond head from behind the couch.

"I'm not denying that he's hot! I'm just not such a freaky pervert like you. I try and respect my patients," Sakura chortled. Ino and Hinata laughed at that. Hinata was boiling some water, and had set out three mugs for them like a proper hostess. Sakura was rummaging through the cupboards to find them disappointingly empty. Pre-furnished did not include food, apparently. She realized Makoto probably had the foresight to have food.

"I'm starving," Sakura groaned. "I bet Makoto has some food over at your place, Izumi." Ino snorted at that.

"Don't get me started on Makoto! He really did keep me up all night, and then he wanted us to 'act like a couple' on the way to the hospital this morning. I told him it was unnecessary and that plenty of couples were against PDA, but he tried to pull rank on me to make me _kiss_ him!" Ino was pulling at her hair now, and Sakura walked over and sat beside her.

"What kind of tea do you want?" Hinata asked from the kitchen.

"Black," Ino and Sakura chorused. Sakura patted the top of Ino's head with a little smile.

"Listen, I don't think Makoto's being unreasonable. But," Sakura held up a hand to hold Ino's word vomit back, "I'll talk to him about it and maybe you can work something out. This mission may take a while though, so we're going to have to get along with him." Ino opened her mouth to say something else, but then seemed to think better of it and sighed.

"Oh, I met someone interesting at work," Sakura said, changing the subject. "Her name's Rouri _Yamanaka_." Ino lifted her eyes with more interest at that.

"Hm… I never heard of any Rouri," Ino said slowly, in thought.

"Well, she said her dad married out of the family, and that he was pretty lower echelon to begin with," Sakura explained.

"Ah, that's it. I'm pretty bad with names for extended family," Ino said.

Hinata joined them with tea then, and they all sipped in silence for a moment. Sakura thought of Rouri, the unlikely Yamanaka with her brilliant smile and way of cutting straight to the point while managing to be utterly polite. She had never found one person so immediately likeable as little Rouri.

"Yeah, she's nothing like you," Sakura said to Ino. "I like her a lot."

"Tch, shut up, Forehead," Ino said, giving her friend a not-so weak punch in the arm. Sakura pretended like she didn't feel the sting of it.

"We might hang out later tonight. I told her she could meet me here."

"Sayuri, I don't think that's a very good idea," Hinata spoke up then. "We should try to keep our private lives to ourselves. Makoto doesn't want us to stand out."

"Fuck Makoto!" Ino spouted. "We're visitors from Suna. It would be more weird if we blended in and stayed inside our whole stay than if we stood out."

"Still, you've only just met this girl today. Who knows who she is? What if she's close to Denna?" Hinata said calmly.

"Yeah, what if _I'm_ Denna? Please, Haruhi, relax," Ino said with her mouth over her tea, taking a sip immediately after.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't catch us at unawares," Sakura said, setting her tea down for a moment. Biting into her thumb, she quickly performed a summoning jutsu. In a cloud of smoke, two birds appeared before her.

"Ah, Sakura! Wonderful to see you again, but what have you done to your hair? I would have woven a nest of your pink locks before, but now -"

"Shh, Gio, listen. I am Sayuri now. You are to always refer to me by that, and as far as you are concerned I never had pink hair," Sakura said curtly to the first bird that had spoken, a small robin. He now hopped around the table, peeking into their cups of tea and scratching at the magazines left there.

"Good to see you, Sayuri," the deeper voice of the second bird, Naka, said. She was a large owl, black as night with wide, pale green eyes not unlike Sakura's own. Her intelligence was often eerie, though her social understanding tended to be limited. She stood very still, watching the three girls steadily.

Ino and Hinata did not seem surprised to see two birds standing on their coffee table and talking to them, though she couldn't remember if she'd ever shown Ino or Hinata her summoning animals.

"Our mission is to find leads on a person referred to as Denna who is infiltrating ANBU. Keep an ear and eye out for any leads like that. Also, I need you two to keep an eye on this apartment and who approaches it or shows interest in it," Sakura said. "Tonight there should be a petite girl with long red-brown hair coming to take me into town. Keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't do anything suspicious. You know our signals, Gio." The robin tilted a black eye up at her and nodded sharply from where he was on the edge of Hinata's cup now.

"Got it, Sayuri ma'am. I'll act natural and Naka will just hide," Gio said in his fast, almost sing-song voice.

"I will do as I please, little Gio," Naka said in her slow, clear voice. With that, Sakura opened the window. No one appeared to be outside, so she let them fly out one at a time. First Gio, then Naka.

Once the birds had gone, Sakura returned to the couch with her team and the girls sipped their tea in silence.


	4. Kakashi's Hint

**The Circle**

Chapter 4: Kakashi's Hint

* * *

After a long day, Rouri liked to take a walk by herself outside of town. It was a good way to clear her mind after being filled with the muddle of a day's worth of thoughts. For today, she kept it short, moving just far enough out so that she could be truly alone. No one's thoughts but her own. It was refreshing. Being a Yamanaka wasn't so unusual, but as far as she knew, Rouri was the only person in her whole clan with her ability. She had yet to determine whether it was a gift or a curse.

When the sun had finally set and the light was quickly fading into night, Rouri made her way back to town. She did her best to ignore the hustle and bustle, but that didn't stop it from coming through.

…_wonder what's going to happen to her if I…swore I put it in here somewhere. If Mom blames me…beautiful evening. Oh, look at that girl. I'd like to see her sitting on my…_

The thoughts of her town blared in her mind like white noise, constantly. She wished her father had never tried to teach her his jutsu. Rouri had been the guinea pig for his self-created technique, and it had failed miserably. Now, the thoughts of others were unstoppable. The sense was on par with her hearing, in that she could listen in specifically on some thoughts or hear bits of all of them, and after a certain distance she could no longer hear a person's mind. Unlike hearing, no one had yet to invent ear plugs for the mind.

There were days when it helped. Everyone at the hospital had become used to Rouri's eerie ability to pick up on things that no one said aloud. Most chalked it up to a strong intuition, seeing as being able to hear their thoughts allowed her to go just as far as she could without raising suspicion.

For some reason though, she couldn't hear that girl's thoughts. Sayuri, the watchful medic from Suna, with those wide green eyes of her that seemed strangely empty without the noise of her thoughts behind them. For the first time in a long time, Rouri had looked into the eyes of a person and heard only the words she had chosen to say. It was refreshing, though slightly terrifying. So, naturally, Rouri was driven to befriend the apparently thoughtless girl.

As she approached the apartments, the thoughts of the people from the street faded as newer thoughts popped in.

…_black pepper should do the trick…window is so thin I can feel the wind blowing through it. Damn landlord…wish Ino would just relax. It's not going to help to fight…_

As usual, Rouri tuned them out. Every now and then a particularly fierce or loud thought might pull her out of it, but she usually did her best to ignore them. She knocked quietly on the door of the apartment Sayuri had told her about, not bothering to listen for any approaching thoughts.

Gio had alerted her that Rouri was coming, so the knock on the door soon after was no surprise. Sakura was just smoothing her hair in the mirror one last time. She had pieced together a casual outfit the best she could from her limited wardrobe. There had been one suitable piece in her whole bag - a red tank top with a characteristically Suna collar that was perfectly round and high up on her neck. It was either a long shirt or a very short dress, so Sakura chose to wore some black spandex shorts for modesty's sake.

When she answered the door, Rouri smiled.

"You look nice," she said.

"Thanks, so do you," Sakura said. Rouri was wearing fitting, dark blue pants and a nice pea coat. "Let me grab a coat and we can go." She flitted to her room, quietly searching through her bag again as Ino snored lightly on her bed. Eventually she found a dark brown jacket that had a few too many pockets for her taste, but she grabbed it anyways and ran out to the front door.

"Okay, where to?" Sakura asked as she closed the door behind her quietly.

"I'll show you downtown first," Rouri chirped, skipping down the stairs into the courtyard.

So Sakura acted as if she were receiving her first tour of the town, when in reality she'd grown up here. Mostly it was the same, but was surprised to find that many of her favorite shops had yet to be opened. Sakura insisted they stopped when she saw a food cart she recognized. She ordered three of the long sticks with vegetables slathered in a mystery sauce skewered on them, wolfing them down ravenously. Rouri watched her like she'd just grown a second head as she ordered herself a small one.

"There's a grocery store a couple of blocks down this street that has the best produce in all of Konoha," Rouri was saying, pointing behind her as they headed deeper downtown. Where Sakura expected to see large, lit-up banners and an endless amount of carts and people, she found it lacking. A Saturday night in Konoha was sure not what it used to be… or would be, rather.

"My favorite bar is this one," Rouri said, pointing to the one with the painting of a drunk-looking crescent moon on the front with an impish grin. "Thirsty?"

"Sure," Sakura said, following Rouri inside as the girl swished her long hair back and forth. They took a seat at the bar. A cute bartender walked up, waiting patiently for their orders.

"The usual," Rouri chirped. Sakura bit her lip and looked around for a menu, but found the walls to be covered in nothing but abstract art. What a weird bar.

"I'll have what she's having," Sakura said. The bartender nodded and walked off.

It wasn't long before both girls were appropriately sozzled. Sakura, for all her noise when she was mad, actually tended to become very quiet and giggly when drunk. Rouri was quite the opposite. The shorter girl began to babble endlessly, and Sakura found it harder and harder to follow along as the alcohol began to taste better and better.

"- and you wouldn't believe what a bitch Nan actually is! She acts all nice but she has the most critical thoughts of anyone in the whole hospital," Rouri said loudly, slamming her not-quite-empty cup on the bar every now and then to stress certain words. Sakura watched her drink slosh over the edges, thinking there was probably something wrong with that but not really able to figure out what.

"Ahhh yeah, that lady took forever to find me someone to shadow. Everybody kept saying they were 'busy!' Pleeeaase! She just didn't want to order anyone around," Sakura moaned.

"Oh, she does want to, she just doesn't tell anyone," Rouri slurred.

"But she tells you?"

"Well, not really. She doesn't mean to, but she does."

"What?" Sakura said, trying to clear her mind to figure that out.

"Uh, forget I said that," Rouri rushed, turning away to hide her face. Sakura frowned. What was this medic trying to hide? Sakura tried to remember what they'd just been talking about, but she couldn't. _Crap._

"Ugh, I really did forget. I didn't mean to drink this much," Sakura mumbled, pressing her forehead into her hands as if to push the alcohol right out the back of her head. She drunkenly wondered if with her healing chakra she could do that. Drunk as she was though, she still knew better than to blow her cover. Mostly.

As Sakura reached for her glass only to pick up a red jar with a tiny candle in it and stare at it dumbly, Rouri let out a peal of laughter that sounded like a beautiful wind chime in a mountain breeze. She could have punched her new friend for being so adorable even when inebriated.

"Alright, I'll walk home with you," Rouri said, pushing her empty glass away as she hopped off the barstool.

"Oh, you don't have to, it's really okay," Sakura said, waving her hands in front of her.

"Ah, it's on my way anyways," Rouri insisted, patting Sakura on the shoulder.

Together they walked down the cool night streets. The air was refreshing, and Sakura found her thoughts began to clear some as she walked alongside Rouri. She remembered their conversation then.

"Wait, what was that you were saying about Nan? She doesn't mean to tell you stuff, but she does?" Sakura wondered. Rouri was looking away now, but Sakura could see the worry on her face. This must be a big secret to make her look like that. "Hey, it's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm just a little curious."

"Well, it's part of the reason why I liked you so much right off the bat, Sayuri," Rouri started hesitantly. There was a long pause, and she stopped to look up at Sakura.

"I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to," Sakura said with a reassuring smile, resting a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. Rouri smiled a little.

"Okay, well… I can hear people's thoughts," Rouri said. There was a long pause as Sakura drunkenly comprehended that, but her gut told her first. She felt like she'd been stabbed with an icicle.

"What?" Sakura said dumbly.

"Yeah… Remember my clan, Yamanaka? They have a lot of mind-related jutsu. My father tried to create a new one on me. It worked, but reversing it is as impossible as trying to control it. I always hear people's thoughts. Now that he's dead, I know I can't ever stop it," Rouri said, and her voice started to waver. "Except yours, Sayuri. I don't know why, but I can't hear any of your thoughts. You're the only person I feel normal around, and I've only known you f-for a day!" At that, Rouri burst into tears, throwing her arms around Sakura and wiping her snot and tears into Sakura's only nice shirt. That was okay though, because it gave her a chance to figure out how to piece her face together into the right expression.

This girl could read thoughts. One of the very few ways their cover could be blown, and here it was. Sakura was not surprised to hear that Rouri couldn't read her thoughts. Ino's mind-transfer technique didn't work on her either, so there must be something special about her brain that kept the Yamanaka clan out. _Thank goodness,_ Sakura sighed inwardly. Now she was beginning to see the wisdom in Hinata's words. The farther Rouri stayed from her team members, the better.

"Well hey, that's pretty cool. I've always been kinda curious about what others think of me," Sakura said, patting Rouri on the back. The girl's sobs quieted with a little sniffle.

"Mostly they don't think much of you," Rouri explained. "You're the girl from Suna - that's all. They tend to think you're a little slow and quiet. Kakashi had some weird thoughts about you, though. That's why I rushed in like that. You looked surprised to see me." Sakura stiffened at that, and Rouri pulled out of her hug, rubbing her eyes before she looked up at Sakura.

"He was wondering if you could possibly be an assassin!" Rouri laughed. "That thought only crossed his mind for a second, though. A real assassin wouldn't have waited for him to wake up. Still, I didn't hear what happened before that. What did you do to him?" Sakura forced her jaw to unclench.

"I hit him in the face with my book," Sakura laughed nervously. Rouri put her hand over her mouth and let out a shocked laugh.

"No way! You nailed the copy ninja! That's amazing. No wonder he was so impressed by you," Rouri said, grinning. Sakura smiled back, wondering if he didn't let people hit him these days. What had changed in his personality to make him let that eraser land on his head on her first day of class?

"Impressed?" Sakura questioned hesitantly. She couldn't help but feel her ego swell a little.

"Oh yeah. He kept trying to figure out how he missed that book coming. That's saying something, too. I think he's pretty interested in you, Sayuri. Kakashi is usually half-asleep with boredom most of the time, but he was thinking on overdrive that day. Then again, I usually only run into him in the hospital, so that could be why…" Rouri trailed off sleepily. At that, she continued walking with her new friend leaning on her heavily.

Sakura cursed her own dumb luck. Her first friend here could hear people's thoughts, and now she had also caught the interest of the young copy ninja. She would need to do some serious backtracking and be very cautious in order to keep her cover.

She and Rouri eventually reached her apartments. Sakura waved goodbye, and Rouri walked on steady enough not to worry her. As Sakura made her way up to the apartment, she realized she'd forgotten her key inside. She checked the doorknob just in case. Locked. She was sure she could break in with nothing more than a little burst of chakra, but she didn't really want to have to deal with explaining a broken door later. Ino and Hinata were both probably asleep, and drunkenly Sakura felt bad at the thought of waking them up. There was an easier way, after all.

Going back to the outside of the building, she gauged the distance between the ground and her second story kitchen window, which was just slightly cracked open. It wasn't the distance that was a problem - it was how to jump up and catch a hand on the window sill without making a loud noise. It didn't help that the world still spun to catch up each time she turned her head.

"Damn it, you idiot," Sakura muttered under her breath. Just then, she got the feeling she was being watched - and not just by a talking bird. The presence loomed more heavily than that.

"You're the Suna girl, aren't you?" a voice asked, and she turned to face Kakashi. In the moonlight his hair took on a blue twinge. He was wearing a long-sleeve shirt now, but she could still see the wondrous shapes of his arms and shoulders beneath it. Sakura forced her drunken eyes not to look, but she found they wandered anyways.

She turned the rest of her body to face him, but folded her arms over her chest. Even her jacket couldn't ward off the chill she was feeling now after she'd been standing still for a while.

"What do you want?" Sakura asked, a little frustrated now. If he would just go she could hop up into her apartment, climb into the bed already warmed by Ino, and let her mind rest.

"You look a little lost," Kakashi said, taking a couple of steps closer, hands in his pockets. He looked around casually as if he were just making small talk, but Sakura could tell from the few quick glances in her direction that he was more invested in this than just casually. Kakashi had something more pressing on his mind to ask her. She wasn't sure she wanted to find out what it was.

"I'm not lost," Sakura said, sticking her chin out and doing her best sober talk possible.

"Is that so?" he said simply, standing just a couple paces in front of her now. It was hard not to feel sucked into his dark gaze when she met it.

"Yes," she retorted quickly, but still found herself unable to look away. She gripped her arms tighter around herself.

"Well, are you waiting for someone then?" Kakashi said in a low voice that made her wonder what it sounded like with her ear pressed up against her chest. Sakura bit her cheek to scold her inner drunken women for being so openly attracted to him, but she really couldn't blame herself. Kakashi was somewhat irresistible, and the way he looked at her as they stood in the moonlight should have been illegal.

"No," Sakura replied after a slight beat. She wasn't sure what lie she could say to get him to leave, and her mind wasn't exactly quick to come up with brilliant ideas now.

"Hm," he said simply. "What are you doing then?"

"Uh, just looking at the stars," she ventured. As if to make her point, she looked up at the sky. The stars swam before her unsteadily. Especially frustrated now, Sakura turned to him with newfound vigor. "Can I _help_ you in any way, Kakashi Hatake?" She spoke in a sweet enough tone, but there was a bitterness beneath it to show her impatience. He just quirked an eyebrow lazily.

"Sayuri, right?" he asked. "What are you here for, anyways?"

"My home-town, Suna, has a very small medical team. I'm here to shadow medics at your hospital in order to pass the knowledge on to my colleagues," Sakura said simply. She'd practically memorized that line now.

"Hm," Kakashi said again, still seeming unsatisfied. There was a long moment of silence as he considered her with one dark eye. Sakura tried to stifle the shivers that were racking her body now. "You're cold," he observed.

"Thank you, Dr. Obvious," Sakura mumbled, looking away and sending her strongest 'get the fuck away' vibes possible. She needed to be alone so she could jump up onto the window sill and fall into bed. Kakashi stepped just a shade closer, and she could feel the heat radiating off of his body. Sakura clenched her teeth and angled her body away slightly, resisting the urge to curl up into his chest and warm her hands under his shirt. He certainly didn't look as if he would mind, what with the way his eyes roamed down the lines of her shirt. She blamed the alcohol on that. She had to be imagining it.

"Why don't you go home? I don't understand why you're still standing here," Kakashi said, taking one hand out of a pocket to gesture to the apartments. Sakura eyed him critically. Did he know she lived there or was he just guessing?

"I guess it is a little cold to look at the stars now," Sakura ammended through her teeth. It looked like she'd have to pretend to go into a building so he would leave her alone before she was rid of this stalker. Maybe she would go over to Makoto's. Maybe she would just wake Ino up and bear the angry onslaught. It was too cold and she was too tired to care anymore - she wanted to go home. "Well, I'll be going then." She turned to go, but Kakashi grabbed her arm.

"Wait -" he said.

"Really? What do you want, Kakashi?" Sakura snapped. He wanted her to go, then he didn't want her to.

"I was just thinking…" Kakashi spoke slowly, as if he had all the time in the world. She couldn't help but be highly conscious of the hand still holding her arm, and how it felt warm even through the jacket. "You should also be learning some defensive techniques, for battle. A dead medic is a useless medic, so if you really want to be of any help to Suna, you should be able to defend yourself. I know you have that potential in you. You were pretty quick with your porno today." Sakura blinked at his serious expression, too stunned to be pissed at him mentioning her porn again. _That's all he came to tell me?_

"Duly noted," Sakura said a little less sharply, pulling at his hold on her arm as if she were nothing but a weak Suna girl. The copy ninja didn't let go. He looked away for a moment before looking back with an odd expression on his face. She had to bite her lip to hold back her smirk, because it was probably the first time she had ever seen anything close to _shy_ cross her teacher's face.

"I… You can always ask me for help, you know. I appreciate what you did for me in the hospital," Kakashi said lowly.

"What, did I actually smack some sense into you today?" Sakura teased.

"No," he said, "I know there was no one in the hospital that day with the ability to heal my internal injuries. I was waiting for a medic with the skill to return, as all are on missions currently… That's why I'd avoided the hospital. I don't need to sit there for days only to be poked by overconfident healers with needles. But you healed me."

Sakura closed her gaping mouth. Her relief from his seemingly petty concern he'd expressed earlier vanished. Kakashi Hatake knew she was a better healer than she acted to be. She'd blown their cover within the first week. _-_

"You might not think so, but you have potential," Kakashi interrupted her thoughts. "So, if you ever want to learn a little about how to fight… just ask me. Off the record. Okay?" Sakura blinked a couple of times.

"Okay," she said, still baffled. He didn't seem to question that she was a skilled medic here to receive training. At least, not yet. Sakura felt as if her mind was skipping like a broken record. She needed to get away and think about this.

Kakashi watched her for a moment. He looked like he was going to say something else, then he put his hand back in his pocket and seemed to change his mind. At that, he disappeared in a blur. Sakura was able enough now to track his dash, but for the sake of whatever frail cover she had left, she kept her eyes glued straight ahead when he disappeared. Then she turned and ran.

Makoto's apartment wasn't difficult to find. She wasn't completely sure about the number, but she hardly cared anymore as she knocked on the door.

The door opened after only a short while, and Makoto stood on the other side, holding a glass of ice water in one hand. Warmth and light flooded into the hall, reminding Sakura that she was cold.

"Oh, Sayuri," he said. "Are you okay?" Sakura shoved herself in, and closed the door behind her. She refused to look at him until she had taken a seat on his deep brown couch and allowed herself three long breaths. Makoto said nothing, just swirled the ice in his water and contemplated the room as if he really was interested in his own cheap wallpaper. He seemed to sense that she needed a moment.

"I think I've blown it all, Makoto," Sakura said once she trusted her voice to be steady. Saying it aloud only made her feel worse, and she chewed her bottom lip. He simply waited, seeming to sense that she had more to say. "On my first day as a shadow, not only did I heal a ninja beyond what I'm supposed to be capable of, but I've befriended the only person in all of Konoha who could ruin us. She can hear thoughts."

The ice clinked on his glass as he took a sip of his water. Sakura chanced a look up at him to see his eyes on her. If she'd been in the state of mind to care, she might have been surprised to see that they were a very intricate hazel, with green, brown, and blue all dashing together.

"Who's this ninja you healed? Does he know?" He asked simply.

"Yes, he figured it out. His name's Kakashi Hatake. In the future, he's actually my teacher…" Sakura said lamely.

"Interesting," Makoto said, and he sounded like he meant it. "What about this mind reader? Has she heard any of your thoughts about the mission?"

"Well, no. I'm actually the exception to the rule. I think it has to do with the fact that she's from the Yamanaka clan. I'm immune to Ino's mind techniques as well," Sakura explained, feeling a little less worried. Makoto seemed like this was hardly at the top of his list of worries, and Tsunade had said to trust him.

"Ah, well, I think this has actually worked out much to the better," he said simply, taking another drink of his water.

"Really?" Sakura gaped at him.

"Think about it. You have the only medic who could spoil our cover under your thumb. Just warn your friends about her, and keep her away from them as much as you can," Makoto explained. "As for Kakashi, I have a good feeling. A really good feeling, actually. He grabbed your arm, didn't he?"

"What?" Sakura said abruptly. "Yes, he did… How did you -"

"It's an ability thing. His 'color' feels good to me. I would definitely advise you befriend him. This may be a lead towards Denna. It's certainly a better one than lurking around in the hospital," he said. Sakura reminded herself to close her mouth, and she looked out the window as she considered that. Kakashi was a good lead? It did make sense. He was ANBU, and as Rouri had said, he was already quite interested in her. It wouldn't be hard to take up his training offer and keep an ear out for suspicious things. Sakura hummed to herself in approval.

"Thank you, Makoto. I feel much better now," Sakura said, looking towards him with an appreciative smile. Whether he had meant to do it or it had just happened that way, he had certainly comforted her. Makoto gave a lopsided smile in response.

"Sure thing," he said warmly. Then his warm smile faltered a bit, and he swished the ice in his glass a little more somberly. "Did Izumi say anything about me? I assume she's sleeping at your house tonight." Sakura sighed at that, leaning back into his couch more. It wasn't as comfortable as hers at home, but it still made her limbs feel heavy with exhaustion to sink into it.

"She was upset you tried to kiss her," she said sleepily, letting her eyes slide shut. The noise of the ice clinking in his glass suddenly stopped, and if he wasn't such a mouth breather Sakura might have thought Makoto was gone.

"Was that what she said?"

"Mhm… I know you have your reasons for trying to look like a couple, but you really have to take it slow with her. She acts all boisterous and tough, but really she just does that to hide the feelings that are really important to her," Sakura droned, feeling her consciousness slip even as she just sat on the couch. Somewhere in the back of her head she realized she should get back home, to her bed, with Ino and Hinata. She would do that… in a couple of minutes.

She didn't realize how long Makoto had been silent until he suddenly spoke again.

"I didn't _try_ to kiss her," he mumbled quietly. Sakura frowned at the sound of his voice, which had lost its usual carefree tone. She wanted to open her eyes and ask him what that meant, but she seemed to have forgotten how.

The next morning, Sakura woke up in a bed. After a long moment, she remembered the night before. She had fallen asleep on Makoto's… couch. Sitting up, she could hear the soft noises of someone in the kitchen. The blankets had been drawn up around her and someone had taken her shoes off. As far as she could tell, he hadn't joined her in the bed, so Sakura's rising outrage was suddenly diminished.

Pushing out of the bed, she walked flat-footed into the kitchen, where Makoto was wearing new clothes and looking freshly showered. He seemed amused to see her.

"Sleep well?" he said, back to his playful self, making Sakura wonder if she'd imagined the last thing he'd said last night.

"Yeah, thanks. I should have asked if I could stay, but I guess I just ended up leaving myself in your living room. Sorry about that," Sakura chuckled sleepily, rubbing the crust out of her eyes.

"I made some coffee," Makoto said with a shrug, gesturing to a steaming cup. Eagerly, she grabbed it off the counter and clasped it against her chest, savoring the smell and warmth.

"Thank you," Sakura said. "I don't know what Izumi was on about your sleeping for. I didn't hear a peep."

"Well, you were pretty much dead to the world," he said into his cup. Makoto took a long drink before speaking again. "Besides, I don't think my snoring was even the real problem." Sakura looked at him closely, and she could see now a hint of the less carefree version of Makoto she had thought she'd imagined last night.

"What does that mean?" She asked casually. There was a long pause before he spoke again.

"She kissed me, on our first night here. Then the next morning she was cold as could be, as if nothing at all had happened. I mean, not much happened in the first place, but…" he trailed off, obviously at a loss. Sakura sighed, patting him on the shoulder.

"She's testing you, Makoto. _Izumi_ just does that occasionally. If she's testing you, you know she really does like you," Sakura explained. "I usually just call her out on her bullshit right off the bat, so she doesn't do it to me anymore. Just be yourself and ignore it, but don't ignore her. She'll come around, probably sooner than you think." Makoto nodded, seeming a little comforted by that.

Just then, there was a quiet knock on the door. Sakura began to grab her things as Makoto opened the door for Hinata. She hardly took two steps in, still wearing her pajamas, though by the smoothness of her hair you wouldn't have guessed she'd laid her head down a single second all night. Sakura wondered what it took to mess up that girl's hair.

"Sayuri, you should come back now. Izumi will wake up soon, and it seems to me like this might be tricky to explain," Hinata said, nodding to where Sakura and Makoto were standing. Sakura clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"There isn't anything that needs explaining. You're probably right though," she amended. It would probably be impossible to convince Ino of a good reason that she'd spent the night here, so it would be easier just to be there when she woke up. Maybe she wouldn't notice. Just as Sakura turned to go, Makoto touched her shoulder lightly to stop her. At least he was respectful in that way. People didn't have to go man-handling her to get her attention, but they usually did. Just because she was tough didn't mean she couldn't feel anything.

"Remember, be careful about butterflies with Kakashi," Makoto said. "I know I said I had a good feeling, but it's still a risk. You know him, so use that to your advantage." Sakura wanted to remind him that the Kakashi she knew was thirteen years older, but he still had a point, so she simply nodded.

"Thanks again, Makoto," Sakura said as she walked out the door with Hinata. She must have been watching for Sakura to wake up so she could rush over and get her before Ino woke up. It struck her then why Hinata was so good for their mission, and knew it wouldn't be the last time she felt indebted to the quiet kunoichi.

When they got back to the apartment, Sakura brewed some coffee there. She hadn't been able to finish her cup at Makoto's. Hinata quietly walked back to her room, apparently content to leave Sakura without any further questioning.

The rest of the day went normally. The girls were told to shadow the same people today, and that pleased Sakura. Rouri was even more friendly now, making the day actually kind of fun. Nan told the team they were all doing quite well, and that after the weekend they would receive a seminar on healing using their chakra from an experienced medic who was to be returning from his mission.

Sakura wasn't sure she should look forward to the slightly greater challenge or dread being bored to death. At least when she was with Rouri she didn't have to do very much acting-out of her poor skills. Rouri seemed more than happy to give her the menial, tedious tasks, and Sakura was more than happy to do them. She learned to take pride in the small things she could, like her ability to stack suture kits more neatly than anyone else.

That day, Nan was kind enough to give the shadows a lunch break. The three girls walked down to a nearby sandwich house for some good food. The money that Sakura had brought was actually worth much more in the past than it had been in the present, so she found herself newly rich.

"Ugh, I _loathe_ the woman I have to shadow," Ino was saying as they chose an outdoor table in the sun to eat at. "She talks endlessly about nothing and then quizzes me on the nothing she mentioned all day! As if I'm waiting with baited breath on her every word." She lifted her medic skirt and pushed her legs out in the sun in some sort of attempt to tan as she spoke. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"At least she can't hear thoughts," she replied. Ino and Hinata didn't react much, so it was probably safe to say they didn't understand. "Seriously," Sakura continued, "Rouri can hear thoughts. Remember the Yamanaka I was telling you about before? She got the ability from some failed jutsu her father tried." Ino sat up suddenly, forgetting about trying to get a tan.

"We need to tell Makoto right away," Hinata said, suddenly alarmed. For once, Sakura didn't think she was over-reacting.

"Don't worry, I did," Sakura said, stuffing her mouth with a large bite of her sandwich. She put her bag onto her lap, pulling some things out to get to her water bottle underneath.

"You know, I feel like I remembered hearing about that… I thought she went crazy and died right after the event though," Ino said thoughtfully.

"Well, her dad did die," Sakura said after swallowing her large bite with some effort. There was a moment of silence; none of them really knew what to say after that.

Just then, a large crowd of kids came around the street corner. This wasn't an unusual sight, as most of the schools in Konoha went on frequent field trips to learn, but what was unusual was a girl in the middle of the crowd. Her hair was a pale pink, not overly bright in hue but still standing out like a sore thumb.

Sakura had to focus on not dropping her sandwich all over her uniform as she watched herself walk by. Next to her younger self was a younger Ino as well. The two girls were talking animatedly, twirling their hair and jumping up and down every now and then. Sakura noticed she was still wearing the red bow in her hair that Ino had given her.

"Holy shit… This is weird," Ino muttered under her breath. Sakura and Ino sat with dumbfound expressions as they watched themselves. Hinata was still the only Hinata on this street, but she seemed extremely shocked nonetheless. Sakura realized why when she caught sight of a little yellow head dashing through the students.

"Hey, Sakura! Hey! Check this out! When I put my goggles on like this - no, look, like this! - I can look into the sun and it only hurts a little bit!" Naruto said as he ran up to the much-younger Sakura. As she watched, Sakura was horrified to see her younger self cross her arms and look down her nose at him.

"That's dumb," she said, with all the false superiority that she had learned from Ino at that age.

"It's not!" Naruto insisted, jumping in place. He snapped the goggles over his eyes and looked up as if it would convince her. "See? I bet you can't do that without these! I'd let you try them on, but I'm going to be Hokage one day, and so I always have to -"

"Uzumaki! Single file, or I'm sending you home!" A younger Iruka yelled from the back of the procession. Sakura was surprised to see that he looked almost the same, except that his ponytail was a bit shorter than usual and a couple pieces of hair refused to be caught, hanging stray by his face. Even as he scolded Naruto, Iruka had a little smile and clearly enjoyed watching after his herd of kids.

"Oooooohh," Younger Ino and Sakura chorused in the typical response when someone got in trouble in class.

"You know, when I'm Hokage one day…" Naruto mumbled as he ran back to his spot in line, kicking the ground and punching the air when he did so. Ino and Sakura were collapsing in a fit of giggles at the front of the line, mocking the way he had run.

For a brief moment, the teacher's gaze landed on where the three time-travelers sat, and Sakura smiled reflexively. He hardly noticed her though, as a child pulled on his arm for his attention. She sighed for having thought things would have been otherwise. Friendly as Iruka always was, Sakura was not herself now - she was Sayuri from Suna. He did not know or care for her.

Ino nudged her then, nodding subtly towards something. Sakura's eyes followed her direction to see Sasuke. He walked stiffly as always, hands in his pockets and his face so stoic he looked like a man caught in a child's body. Sakura didn't even notice as a tomato slice slid from her sandwich to the ground with a wet noise, simply watching the children go.

She had always remembered him as so cool, but now as she watched him walk along in line alone, all she could see was how vulnerable he seemed. It struck her how wrong they had all been about him. Sasuke acted like he didn't care, but now she was wise enough to see the immature envy in his dark eyes as he watched the rest of his class jostle and jump about without any cares in the world.

Eventually the class disappeared down the street, around another corner. The three girls were silent for a long moment after that. Sakura couldn't shake the strong sense of deja-vu she felt.

"We really were the queen bees," Ino finally broke the silence.

"You mean queen bitches," Sakura said lowly.

"I don't remember either of you being so rude. I think you grew out of that pretty quickly," Hinata said kindly. Sakura and Ino both looked at her then, still constantly surprised by how polite she was, even now on their lunch break when no one was there to expect that of her. Sakura realized then why Hinata had a boyfriend and they both didn't. Even if it was Naruto.

"What field trip was that?" Sakura asked, trying to remember.

"I don't know," Ino shrugged. "Do you think we would suddenly remember this day better if I ran after those kids and yelled something?" Sakura tried to imagine how that would work. After a moment, she shook her head, now utterly confused.

"I'm pretty sure that's some serious butterfly slaughter, either way," she said.

"It makes my head hurt to think about it," Hinata mumbled, still looking where the class had gone.

"Mine too," Ino laughed.

Soon after that, the girls had finished lunch and were heading back to the hospital. Sakura, upon putting her water bottle back into her bag, realized halfway there that she was missing Icha Icha.

"Oh, crap," Sakura said, stopping in her tracks and digging in her bag a little more frantically, as if it would appear suddenly. "I forgot something, you guys. Go ahead. I'll catch up." Ino rolled her eyes, but the two girls continued on without any event.

Sakura ran back to the sandwich house as fast as she could without using her chakra, which she found was a bit disappointing of a pace. Even worse was how, when she slid to a stop by their bench, she was huffing and puffing as if she'd actually run here from Suna. Being a normal person was more tedious than she had imagined. It had only been a couple days without training, and she was already losing stamina.

The book was nowhere to be seen, even when she fell to her knees and reached around under the bench and the bush next to it. Sakura searched for a while before standing up with a groan. She'd lost it. There was no way future-Kakashi would let her live it down if she lost that damn book.

Brushing the dust off of her knees, she got the feeling she was being watched again. Sakura turned to see Kakashi himself, holding the book open. His silver hair shone in the sunlight, and the way he slouched just slightly in those slack black pants of his made them look like designer clothes. As his eyes crinkled from a smile hidden beneath his mask, he looked like the cat who ate the canary. Sakura wanted to smack that smile off of his face.

_Oh, she looks pissed now,_ Kakashi thought to himself as the Suna girl's face transformed when she caught sight of him holding her book. Her cheeks were flushed red from running, which he'd watched her do while he'd lazily jumped along the rooftops, reading a page here and there out of her book. Kakashi found the story rather intriguing, not to mention the explicit scenes were very well-done. Now he was regretting having to give it back to her. Well, it wasn't like she'd be able to catch him if he really wanted to keep it.

Besides, her angry face was quite cute.

She was stomping towards him now, one hand in a tight fist and the other opened to him, palm upward. What was she going to do if he didn't give it to her, punch him? He could have laughed.

"I'll be taking that now, thank you," she said curtly.

"Now? I was just getting to the good part," he said truthfully. Kakashi's smile widened as she stomped a foot. Her anger was so kitten-like. If only he really knew…

"Kakashi! I have to go. My lunch break is almost over," Sayuri said venomously, lunging forward to snatch the book from him. Kakashi pulled it out of her reach at the last moment easily. She gritted her teeth and tried again, a little more quickly. A piece of her odd almost-brown hair fell into her face as she continued to try. Kakashi continued to back away and snap it just out of reach. It was far too amusing to quit now, though she had backed him against a wall.

"Seriously! How old are you, two?" She said, glaring up at him as he changed his strategy to holding it up above his head, well out of her reach.

"In decades," Kakashi said simply. Something about that made her look thoughtful for a moment. There was a moment of silence as she seemed to gage the distance to the book. Maybe if she had any training, she could get it, but no normal girl like herself could jump this high.

She would have to climb him to get it. _Not a bad idea… _Kakashi's smile widened as he imagined it. Even in that stifling medic uniform, he could see the narrow slant of her waist that blossomed into shapely hips. Plus, being this close he couldn't help but smell her. It was a sweet, woodsy scent - like a forest of cherry blossom trees in bloom. There were undertones of the smell of another man, as well. It wasn't surprising to him that she would have a boyfriend here already. Kakashi wasn't sure why it bothered him, but it did. He didn't know the guy, but he already got the feeling she could do better. Whoever he was -

Suddenly, Kakashi's thoughts were cut short. Sayuri's fingers had found a very specific spot on his right side. He was only just able to hold back the temptation to kick her as the insane sensation of being tickled wracked his body, until he was doubled over and pushing her back with his one free hand weakly. The copy ninja couldn't remember the last time he'd been tickled.

"St - stop it! Ah - stop! You cr-cruel woman! P-please!" Kakashi pleaded between laughs. In the back of his mind, he was thankful that the side-street they were on was fairly quiet. It was humiliating; he'd been bested by some foreign girl who probably wasn't even a genin. She seemed to be enjoying this, based on the triumphant grin on her face as she tickled him relentlessly.

"Give me the book!" Sayuri said with laughter in her voice. He had slid down against the wall somewhat, but that didn't stop her from pressing up against him as she strained to make the last inch to reach the book without losing her tickle-hold on his side.

"N-never!" He giggled. Unfortunately, he found his body rebelling against him as it buckled under her unyielding fingers, and then she snatched the book out of his hand. She didn't stop tickling him though. The horror. Kakashi closed his eyes as if to block it out.

"Promise me you will never steal my things again," she said in a voice that might have been deadly intimidating if her form of torture hadn't been tickling.

"Pleease, st-stop!"

"Promise!" Sayuri insisted. He tried to squirm out of her grasp, but found she had him pinned in with her free arm and legs. If this inability to stop laughing wasn't possibly one of the worst feelings in the world, he might have found it slightly erotic. Okay, he still did find it slightly erotic.

"I promise!" Kakashi said finally, and the release was immediate. He could always go back on that promise. Well, maybe.


	5. Dry Sheets

**The Circle**

Chapter 5: Dry Sheets

_Note: This would have come sooner, but I'm couch-surfing until mid-December... Internet/free time is proving to be spotty. Thank you for all of the wonderful compliments so far! Knowing people like it keeps me going. :)_

* * *

"I promise!" Kakashi finally said. Sakura stopped tickling him then, and the tension fell out of his body immediately. It was a shame to see him stop giggling. Sure, she'd heard the occasional chuckle as he'd read Icha Icha, but to hear him full-out laugh like that made her feel like a kid who'd found the cookie jar. She would have to find more excuses to tickle him in the future. Sakura was sure his giggle could have warmed even the coffers of Sasuke's black heart.

Finding his footing again, Kakashi pushed himself up just slightly, but something seemed to make him hesitate. Only then did Sakura notice how close they were. In order to reach both the book and his ticklish spot, she'd had to lean against him. She hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but now their proximity made her breath hitch suddenly and her cheeks burn.

Of course, it didn't help the way he was looking at her so seriously with that dark gaze of his. Sakura had never seen him look that way. Her body responded to it despite any thoughts otherwise. She had to resist the temptation to press her lingering hand against his chest more strongly against his chest. At this range, his musky scent was almost overwhelming. She wanted to lean closer and breathe it in for the rest of her life.

However, more than all of that combined, Sakura wanted to pull down that mask of his and kiss him.

"What do you call your hair color?" Kakashi asked almost conversationally. Sakura snapped out of her trance. _If he's asking questions like that right now, then I must be imagining this feeling._

"Brown," she said quickly, but her voice betrayed her by straying a few octaves higher. She swallowed and licked her lips compulsively, but found Kakashi's eye follow the movement on her lips closely as a result. It reminded her of that moment with him in the bar, before she'd left for her mission. Oh yeah, her mission. This was bad. Even if the look in his eye was carefully nonchalant now.

"Okay, well, remember your promise. I'm late for work," she said a little too quickly to be care-free. The next moment, she was pulling away, shoving her book into her bag and slinging it bag over her arm deftly. Sakura didn't let herself look back as she broke into a quick sprint, and if she used a little chakra to boost herself into a longer stride, she didn't notice.

When she arrived at the hospital, she took half a moment to smooth her hair down before she entered at an appropriately speedy walk.

"Rouri was looking for you," Makoto told her from the front desk. "She said to meet her on the top floor. Most of her patients are there today." Sakura nodded and waved, hurrying towards the stairs.

"Hey, wait," Makoto called after her. For a moment, she considered blowing him off. Then she remembered that she was doing all of this for his mission in the first place. She turned back around, walking over to his desk with less urgency in her step.

"Why are you late?" He asked as he organized some papers into seemingly random piles.

"Uh, Kakashi wanted to talk to me," Sakura said. She was quickly trying to figure out how much she could tell him without looking like she had killed some butterflies. Tickling wasn't exactly something to go in the black books, but the way he had looked at her afterwards might be.

"What about?" Makoto asked casually, but as if he already knew. Sometimes, she just wanted to smack that know-it-all tone out of his mouth. No wonder Ino was having her day-after kiss regrets. Sakura held her annoyance back.

"He said in order to be a medic I should be able to defend myself. He offered to train me in some defensive fighting," she lied, fidgeting with the flower arrangement standing on the counter compulsively. Kakashi _had_ talked to her about that… last night. Sakura moved the smaller white flowers to arrange evenly around the larger, pink centerpiece flowers. _Much better. Ino would be proud._

"That's great," Makoto said warmly with a little smile, and she had to remind herself they weren't talking about the flowers. "I think you should do it. Then you'll be able to show off some of your new talents later." Sakura returned his small smile, knowing that he actually meant she'd be able to hide less of her skills this way.

"Alright, I will then," she said, walking off and giving her team leader a little wave.

Kakashi watched her sprint off with an empty feeling, not so sure that had gone exactly as he'd planned it. He had been intending to ask her, in his roundabout way, if she wanted to train with him today. Somewhere between her brushing up against his front playfully to get that book and watching her lick her lips in that amazing way, he seemed to have forgotten why he'd lured her out in the first place.

Now he would have to resort to other measures, like waiting outside the hospital for her to leave. Kakashi wasn't really interested in waiting. Then she might think he cared enough to wait around for her all day, which always went the wrong way. It was still too soon after Rin's death to pretend that he could care about anyone like that. The copy ninja sighed and tugged on his gloves superfluously.

Still, there was something up with her. No medic with that sort of skill would learn much at the hospital here… so why was she in Konoha? As much as he knew he should go straight to the Hokage with this information, Kakashi couldn't bring himself to do it. Every time he tried, he remembered the way she'd looked when he'd first seen her - asleep in that chair. He had only realized how peaceful and content she had looked in her sleep when he saw how that expression never came close to crossing her face when she was awake. There was always a slight intensity in her eyes, and a rigidity in the way she held her jaw. As much as he felt there was something off about her story, Kakashi couldn't help but want to know the rest of it. She had a reason to be here, and something was bothering her about it. He wanted to see her peaceful again, even though he hardly knew her.

He had a couple of weeks before the Hokage would dare to send him on another mission, so there was no rush. Just because the mysterious medic from Suna had landed a hit on his face with a book didn't make her a threat. She was still here after he'd called her bluff last night, so she obviously didn't have any huge secrets to hide. There was no need to start crying wolf yet. He had time to figure her out.

Kakashi sauntered down the quiet street with his hands in his pockets. The sun was warm on the black cloth of his shirt, but where the wind snuck in his clothes it nipped at him coldly. It was distracting, but it wasn't quite cold enough to start wearing his thicker shirts or layering up yet. Hardly realizing where he was wandering, the copy ninja found himself standing in front of the hospital.

Well, that was probably a first.

He supposed the best way he'd find Sayuri now would be to wait until she left. It wasn't exactly the most exciting way to go about it, but there were worse things to do in a day. Nimbly, with his hands still in his pockets, he jumped between a couple rooftops before he landed softly on the hospital roof. People hardly came up here, so he took a seat in a sunny spot and closed his eyes.

"How does that feel, sir?" Rouri asked her patient politely, and Sakura knew now that it was only to be polite. The medic probably knew better than he did how he felt.

"A little better," he said, still looking somewhat green.

"I've done all I can, so it's up to your body now to pass the rest of the toxin," Rouri said with a kind smile. Sakura, for the fifth time today, forced a sympathetic smile as the patient looked to her. She could have done a lot better at cleaning up his system than Rouri had done, but all she was allowed to do was sit back and watch. It drove the medic in her crazy. Why couldn't Makoto have made them medics from Suna who were here to teach Konoha? That would have been a lot more natural to her. Not necessarily historically accurate, but easier on Sakura herself.

The girls left the patient's room, and Sakura followed Rouri as she headed to a nearby stock closet. All seemed as usual, until Rouri closed the door behind them.

"What're you doing?" Sakura asked, trying not to seem worried.

"I have to tell you something. It's been bugging me since you came back from lunch," Rouri said. Sakura instinctively checked her shirt for a stain, which made Rouri laugh. "Kakashi is sitting on the roof waiting for you to get off of work."

"What? He's been there since _lunch_?" Sakura said.

"Mhm," Rouri said, nodding. She was looking at Sakura as if seeing her for the first time now, though her eyes had that distant look they got when she was 'listening' closely. Sakura watched in a mixture of confusion and horror as Rouri began to blush. She grabbed the smaller girl by the shoulders.

"Tell me what he's thinking about," Sakura insisted, probably a bit more curious than she should be. She couldn't help it - she'd wondered what ran through that fuzzy gray head of his too many times to count.

"It's… kind of private," Rouri mumbled, very shy all of a sudden.

"Rouri! Tell me!" Sakura nearly yelled, giving her a shake.

"He wants to convince you to lend him that book. He's imagining… how Hideki would do that…" Rouri said awkwardly. Go figure. Only Kakashi Hatake would have such perverted thoughts that shocked the girl who heard everyone's thoughts constantly. Sakura smacked her palm to her forehead and groaned. Hideki was the male lead in the Icha Icha book she'd been reading, and his methods of persuasion were entirely sexual.

She would kill him if he tried it. Easily. Sakura was already imagining it.

"Oh, that… PERVERT! I would never fall for that! Who does he think I am, some spineless wench?" Sakura snarled, pacing the small storage closet and not caring who heard.

"Well, they are his personal thoughts. Everyone has them sometimes," Rouri said, trying to hold Sakura back from pacing.

"Not me!"

"Really," Rouri retorted flatly as if she didn't believe her the tiniest bit. She crossed her arms then. "You know, I saw it in his memory, how you looked at him earlier. Like you wished you could be his spineless wench."

Sakura froze then, slowly turning her eyes to Rouri's smug expression. What had happened to the blushing virgin act? In the very back of her mind, she wondered what shade of crimson her face was. Most of her mind was too busy tumbling with rage and shock to care.

"Did not," Sakura growled her useless denial.

"Sure, sure," Rouri said, turning and grabbing some things off the shelf. She handed Sakura an armful of sheets. "Take those out and hang them on the roof, would you?"

"No way! What if I walk up there and he has his hand down his -"

"Trust me, I'm doing this for your own good," Rouri said, ignoring her refusal with a Cheshire cat grin. Before Sakura could think of a better rebuttal, the medic threw open the door and walked down the hall, swinging her long hair in a cocksure way. Sakura glared at the back of Rouri's head, wishing for the first time that Rouri could hear her malevolent thoughts.

Standing in the closet with her arms full of perfectly clean sheets, she considered her options. She could chuck the sheets out some window and not even bother with Kakashi, but Rouri would know when she didn't appear in his thoughts.

"Excuse me," someone said. Sakura realized she was still standing in the supply closet then, and sullenly stepped aside to let the medic through. He looked intimidated by the expression on her face, so she attempted to rearrange her scowl into a smile. The poor medic seemed to quake in fear, and tripped over his own feet as he tried to walk quickly away with an armful of supplies.

Sakura sighed, looking at the sheets in her arms dejectedly. Well, she might as well get it over with. _All I have to do is hang these sheets. I don't have to say a word to Kakashi._ She felt a little better then. There was _no_ way he was going to seduce this book out of her hands. Letting it get that far would probably make an entire race of butterflies extinct.

With no one looking, Sakura took the stairs easily, three at a time. She hesitated just before the door to the roof, but remembering Kakashi could probably hear her by now, went out. Not bothering to look around, she walked straight to the line that had a couple of sheets already hanging from it.

There he was, just as Rouri had predicted, sitting on the ground with his back against the waist-high ledge around the roof. Right below the clothes line. Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch as she stopped to consider him.

"Oh, Sayuri," he said, looking a little surprised to see her. _Serves him right,_ Sakura thought to herself as she began to hang one sheet as if he wasn't there.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked, as if it was quite weird for her to be here.

"Working," Sakura said begrudgingly.

"Those sheets are dry," he said in a monotone. Sakura froze halfway through putting one on the line. Of course the copy ninja would notice and consider it odd that she was hanging dry sheets out to dry. Now he must think she was up here to see him. Rouri had probably done that on purpose. _I will kill that peppy, nosy, good-for-nothing… _Sakura thought, feeling her fists clench as her mind ran through some of her stronger explitives.

"I don't see the point of - oh, you're tearing it now," Kakashi was at her side suddenly, pulling her unwilling hand from its strangle hold on the sheet. Sakura snapped out of her daydreams of kicking Rouri off of the third Hokage's giant stone face, and Kakashi's bare hand against the back of hers made her stomach curl in a far too pleasant way. She slapped his hand away reflexively, glaring at him now. He took a tentative step back, pulling his hand back but still holding it up like he'd forgotten about it. His eye widened in surprise as he saw the anger in her face.

"What are you mad at me for?" Kakashi said, for once sounding a little insulted. Sakura searched his face for something she could be mad about, but really, he had done nothing. She was being rude for no good reason. Kakashi would be Kakashi, and Sakura knew she had no right to be angry about thoughts she had no business knowing in the first place. She'd been the one to make Rouri tell her, and now she wished she hadn't. Kakashi's head was his own. It should never have been any other way.

"I'm not," Sakura said with a sigh. She relaxed her tense shoulders and threw the sheet she'd been holding over the line lifelessly. Kakashi smoothed his hand over the slight tear she'd made with all the care in the world, and if she'd been in a better mood she would have laughed. Without saying anything else, he took another sheet from the pile in her arms and hung it up.

Sakura just watched him as he hung up clean sheet after clean sheet silently. He didn't say anything, just set to work without concern. The way the muscles in his back moved as he flung the sheets over the line was strangely hypnotizing, but Sakura had to be careful to guard her expression when he was looking. She knew Rouri was looking now too.

With the sheets flapping in the cool autumn breeze and the sun warming her cheeks, she could have sworn she was standing in the same Konoha she grew up in. It reminded her of the very day Kakashi had thrown Sasuke and Naruto away from her when she had tried to stop their fighting. As Kakashi hung another sheet on the line calmly, Sakura felt like she was standing with the man she knew again. The nostalgia that hit her then was strong. Never since arriving had she felt so close to home, despite technically already being there. It had hardly been very long since she'd been here on this mission, walking as a stranger amongst the people she knew and loved, and still she felt exhausted and ready to leave. It certainly didn't help she'd already come close to blowing their cover twice now.

Still, they would be here indefinitely. Sakura had no idea whether it would be one month or three years, and all of that time would be spent tip-toeing around and being someone else in the town she loved. Already she had come very close to ruining it all for them twice. This mission had already been more emotionally draining than any she'd been on before, and something about the way Kakashi took her problem so simply out of her hands, without question, made her eyes sting hotly with fresh tears.

Not wanting him to see, she clutched the last sheet close to her and moved away to another part of the clothes line to hang it. Still the tears stung at her eyes, and when she blinked she could feel them leave warm paths on her cheeks. Sakura was slightly baffled by this sudden emotion, but that was usually how her emotions were. Any feelings that came up throughout her missions were filed away and pushed through for later. It was only when someone stopped to show her sympathy did they flood to the surface, just like how a mother's hug only made the tears come stronger. Despite all attempts to stop, her throat grew tight with the desire to cry as she watched Kakashi diligently smooth a sheet over the line. She pressed her face into the last sheet she was holding in a weak attempt to hide it.

She didn't hear him walk up, but could feel him grow near. He was probably standing there looking out in the distance like he didn't care, with his hands in his pockets, but Sakura didn't dare to look.

"Do you miss home?" He asked simply, his voice low. Sakura nodded into the sheet in a rare moment of honesty, curling her fingers more tightly around it as she resisted the terrible urge to sob. _How horrible this is, crying in front of him…_ As familiar as he felt, this Kakashi was still only someone she'd known for a few days. However, her emotions were quite immune to any rationalizations. Sakura felt her shoulders quake a little when Kakashi reached out and rubbed a hand on her back in an attempt to comfort her.

"It's okay, you're allowed to," Kakashi said softly. Even though she wasn't quite sure what he meant she was allowed to do, it was the breaking point for her. Unable to think of anything but her craving for comfort, Sakura turned and pressed herself against his chest, clinging to him through the sheet and leaning on him heavily.

Kakashi stiffened for a moment, his hands resting on her gently as if he had only expected to catch her and let her go. He felt unsure only for a beat, and then he wrapped his arms around her tightly and pressed his hands against her back in comfort. Sakura let herself cry then, careful only to do so on the sheet that was now captured between them. She finally let herself think of how horrible and wrong this was, to be here meddling in the past, and how much it tore her up each time she saw a friend on the street look right through her.

Sheltered from the wind in his embrace, the warmth of Kakashi's body flooded through her. She inched her face up just above the sheet, pressing her cheek against his shirt and breathing in his smell as subtly as she could. It was a little slice of musky heaven, familiar yet exciting. Suddenly entirely conscious of the way his hands held her against his chest and the way his masked face pressed into her hair, Sakura felt her tears dry up magically. Now her heart raced for an entirely different reason as she felt one hand stroking the back of her head, a few fingers grazing the skin on her neck with a touch that felt electric.

"I think it's just that time of the month," she croaked into his chest, trying to ignore the heat that was curling low in her abdomen by making a joke. Not that it wasn't true. Kakashi chuckled, and the low sound of it resonated through his chest and into hers. Sakura felt herself hum softly in content at that, and he tensed just slightly. That was when she knew she had overstayed her welcome, and she pulled away from him. She regretted it soon after, as a cold breeze chased away all the warmth he had given her in one quick moment. She cleared her throat a little awkwardly.

"Thank you," Sakura said quietly, looking down at the sheet she still held shyly.

"It's no trouble," Kakashi said simply, reaching out to tousle her hair. Sakura looked up in surprise as the familiar gesture made her want to break into tears all over again. The corners of his eyes crinkled in a warm smile.

"Well, I should get back to work," she forced. She bundled up the sheet more neatly in her arms with a little smirk as she remembered. "Sometimes I get the feeling that Rouri is always watching me. It's _creepy._" _Take that,_ she thought to herself as she glanced up at Kakashi again. There was an oddly guilty tweak to his brow, but he looked away before Sakura had a chance to decipher it. Did he know about Rouri?

"Ah, yeah. Go save some lives, Sayuri," Kakashi said normally, waving as he turned and began to walk away. Sakura watched him, wishing for a moment she could hear him say her real name, before she turned and walked back into the hospital.

Rouri listened intently to Kakashi's thoughts, even as she monitored the thoughts of her patients as she attended to them.

_Uh oh. What's Sayuri doing up here? Oh, she looks mad again. Why is she always so mad to see me? She's supposed to be shadowing that Rouri girl, isn't she?… Hm, those sheets look dry. They smell clean too. That one even has a crease from being folded. What is she up to?_

_What an awkward way to hold a sheet. Woah, she just tore that sheet without even realizing it. She's stronger than she looks. I should stop her. I don't need her blaming this damage on me - oh, she smacked my hand away. Yikes, she's mad. She looks scary like that. Maybe I should be worried, what with the way she tore that sheet._

Rouri bit her lip as she paused a little too long in front of a heart monitor, watching the moving lines but also seeing Sayuri's angry scowl in Kakashi's mind eye. He asked her why she was mad.

_Now she's not mad? I'm pretty sure she was mad two seconds ago. Why does she look like she got the wind knocked out of her now? Women sure are confusing. Something is definitely up with her. She doesn't look alright. _

"Thank you," Rouri mumbled absently to the assistant medic who brought in a new IV bag for her. Sayuri normally would have done that, but nobody questioned the Suna medic's absence. Truth be told, most of the hospital staff didn't even notice the visitors when they _were_ there. Just another body in the way of their hectic job, in their minds.

Rouri realized she had missed a couple moments of dialogue while focusing on a patient's thoughts in order to start an IV as painlessly as possible. Quickly, she tuned back in.

_Maybe she misses home. How long has she been here anyways? Konoha is very different from Suna. The poor girl looks cold all the time. I wonder if she has anything more than that weak jacket she was wearing the other night, with that red shirt. Yeah, that red shirt looked nice. So much better than her stuffy medic outfit. It treated her body the way it deserves to be treated. I can hardly tell she has a waist in her outfit now, and I know she has that, unlike some Suna girls. And more. Oh, so much more. _There was a wordless desire in his thoughts now as he remembered the way her shirt in the breeze had lovingly caressed her breasts, the smooth planes of her stomach, her shapely hips…Rouri noticed the desk clerk watching her strangely as she handed him a file, and realized she must be blushing strongly. But she couldn't stop listening now.

_Wait, is she crying? Oh crap, she really is. I can't leave now. Poor girl really does miss home. I guess I should pat her on the back or something. How do you comfort people you hardly know? I certainly can't bring up her book now. She'd probably tear me like that sheet for being so insensitive. But… I need to read the rest. It's killing me. How nice it would be to curl up somewhere with that book right now, and -_

For a moment then, Kakashi's mind went blank with its speed. Usually his thoughts were a slow, gentle dialogue that was easy to follow. Now however, it worked on a series of strong feelings and impressions that all wove together in thoughts that could not be put into words. She got flashes of thoughts occasionally, but mostly they were lost on Rouri. Kakashi had a mind that, when it wanted to be, was quite intricate and complex. Still, quite vividly she could feel through Kakashi's mind as Sayuri pressed up against him and let herself cry. There was only the slightest hesitation in his thoughts before he embraced her fully.

_Mmm, so wonderfully supple… and warm… She can cry as long as she wants like this, I don't mind. Will she notice if I touch her hair? That's comforting, I think… It's so soft. It smells good too, like a flower. Kind of looks like it sometimes too, with that pink tint to it in the sunlight. _

"Miss?" Rouri heard someone say, and she realized she had been staring at the surgery board for a long time and that someone had been talking to her while she had become so enveloped in Kakashi's thoughts. Her face felt very hot, and she was tempted to pull at the neckline of her uniform. That might be a little obvious though. She forced herself to pay attention, but she still heard Kakashi's amused thoughts as Sayuri was saying something about her time of the month.

"Uh, sorry," she said quickly. "What was that?"

_That's Rouri, isn't it? She's cute. Shit… One, two, three, four…_ Rouri was used to schooling herself from reacting to people's thoughts, but it did strike her as weird that the person before her suddenly became very focused on counting numbers in her head all of a sudden. She blinked at the tall blond before her, recognizing her as one of the Suna trainees. The one with the bad marriage to the desk clerk.

"Mrs. Yamaha wanted me to bring you this file. She needs help on this patient," the girl said quickly, turning around and walking away as if she were in a hurry. She began to count in another language then, and Rouri frowned just slightly in confusion. Then again, she'd heard weirder thoughts. She was already tuning in to Kakashi's thoughts again.

They had stopped hugging, and Sayuri was saying something about getting back to work.

_Ah, so this wasn't part of her work after all. Did she come up here to cry on my shoulder in the first place?_

"_Sometimes I get the feeling that Rouri is always watching me. It's _creepy_," _Rouri heard her say through Kakashi.

_Why's she smirking like that at me? Wait, what was that supposed to mean? Shit… does she know I'm here to wait for her? I guess that puts waiting at her house out of the question. I suppose that is something most people would find creepy. She might be more perceptive than she seems if she figured out I was up here. Then again, she might have just been lucky… But the sheets…_

Rouri chuckled lowly under her breath. Kakashi was walking away now, already plotting how to next run into her without appearing creepy, and she was sure Sayuri was on her way back down now. She dreaded it a little bit, especially as she had no thoughts of Sayuri's to go by.

"Haruhi, would you like to check his vitals for me?" The male medic she was shadowing asked her, and Hinata blinked. His name was Kensuke, and she could not have asked for a better teacher. Unfortunately, she had never asked for a teacher in the first place. It was simply her mission. Still, Hinata was the most dutiful student she could be.

"Sure," she said softly, though that was far from the truth. Hinata would rather not take the patient's vitals, as she found being a medic rather difficult, but she had to. She went through the motions with a slight smile, calling the numbers aloud as she went.

"Wonderful job," Itsuko said. "Your blood pressure readings were much more accurate this time. Just remember to release the cuff a little more slowly, and you will be perfect." Hinata smiled graciously and gave a small bow, stepping aside as Itsuko began to tend to the man's injury.

Now standing behind him and essentially blocking the patient's view of her, when she was supposed to be watching over his shoulder, Hinata silently activated her Byakugan. It was easy enough for her to do so quickly enough that should Itsuko so much as glance over her shoulder, she could turn it off and he would never know the better. As a precaution, Hinata regularly did scans for any suspicious activity and to make sure her team mates were unharmed. Considering that there was a woman walking around listening to their thoughts, it was always helpful to be aware.

Looking through walls as if they were nothing, it didn't take long to find her team. Ino was walking slowly down the hallway, and Hinata's lips turned downward just slightly to see her blond friend stalling so obviously. She couldn't help but wonder just what helpful attribute Makoto had seen in Ino. Maybe something yet to be revealed. Still, she was entirely trusting in Makoto, so she didn't question it.

Hinata's eyes found Rouri next, who she was surprised to see was alone. Sakura was nowhere nearby. Hinata scanned out wider, and after a couple of long seconds found her. Sakura was on the roof. Embracing Kakashi. She could see clearly enough that both of their hearts were racing, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. Hinata dropped her Byakugan as she struggled not to drop her stethoscope out of shock.

"Excuse me for a moment, please," she said to Itsuko. The medic nodded as she walked out, and Hinata found her hands beginning to tremble as she moved as quickly as she could through the halls and up the stairs without drawing unnecessary attention. What was Sakura doing? Why was she allowing things to progress with Kakashi? Hadn't she heard a thing about Makoto warning them not to step on butterflies?

Hinata reached the sixth floor and opened the door of the stairwell only to be stopped short in her tracks. Sakura was already standing with Rouri now, talking to her. Hinata was not confident enough in the control of her thoughts to dare approaching, so she simply cursed her luck and tried to calm her nerves. Kensuke would not expect her to be gone for long, so she would have to wait until after work. Whatever Sakura had been doing, it was over and done now anyways. Still, Hinata vowed to keep a closer eye on her for the rest of the day.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief as Rouri announced that they were done for the day, which really meant that she had run out of trivial things for Sakura to do.

"So, you're sure you're not mad at me?" Rouri said for the fiftieth time as she watched Sakura grab her things out of her cubby.

"No, but I will be if you keep asking me," Sakura said with a smile. Since she had seen her cry through Kakashi's mind, Rouri's apologies had come about once every twenty minutes. Truth be told, what Rouri had done wasn't what had made her cry, but Sakura seemed to have forgotten that as she soaked up her teacher's remorse with amusement.

"Okay, but I do feel really bad," she said.

"Really Rouri, it's okay," Sakura insisted, finally growing a little tired with it. Rouri looked at her as if it really wasn't, but stopped short of apologizing again. A flash of insight crossed her cherubic face.

"Wait a second, you actually enjoyed it, didn't you?" Rouri said. Shit. Sakura tried to frown like the suggestion was quite horrible, but with the way Rouri looked at her it was impossible to hide her guilty smile.

"Sayuri!" Rouri gasped. "Do you _like_ Kakashi?" Sakura laughed at that, tucking her hair behind her ear. For all the thoughts she must hear in a day, Rouri still managed to salvage a lot of her innocence.

"I don't know," Sakura answered with an honest shrug. She had yet to let herself consider that question seriously, though she wondered that herself now with much worry. "Besides, I can't," Sakura continued more quietly, bowing her head as she tucked her medic hat into her cubby. Rouri laid a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder then, thinking she'd said that because she would have to go back to Suna eventually. Sakura sighed. How wrong Rouri was, and yet not far off from the truth at the same time.

Waving goodbye to her medic friend, Sakura began to walk home. She was tired. This week already felt like it had lasted ages, and she was ready for the weekend. Her plans were to… sleep, mostly. Then the next day, go on a long run outside of Konoha and kick some logs in half. Sakura's step gained a little more pep at the thought. Kicking logs in half was always something to look forward to.

She didn't get far before she heard someone jogging up behind her. Normally this didn't cause her to stop and turn, but these footfalls were familiar to her. Hinata was running up, her cheeks flushed.

"I have to talk to you," she said in a serious tone, hardly out of breath from the running. Sakura wondered why it always surprised her that Hinata was so physically fit. _Probably the huge boobs,_ she guessed.

"Okay," Sakura said cautiously. Whatever made Hinata run to catch up with her, it probably wasn't good.

"Not here," she said quietly then. Sakura nodded but didn't make a big deal out of it. That probably meant that they were being watched by someone… But who? Gio hadn't given her any signals.

As they walked, she stretched her arms up for a moment before yawning and bending over to scratch her left knee. The resulting bird call was comforting: two short chirps, a pause, and one slightly longer one. There was no trouble, and Gio wasn't dead or anything.

Sakura and Hinata talked amicably about their days as they walked home. Hinata left out the part about seeing Sakura hugging Kakashi, and Sakura left out her trip to the rooftop. They both knew they were just playing it cool in front of whoever was watching, but they kept up the friendly act until they had closed the apartment door behind them. Hinata relaxed instantly as she activated her Byakugan and looked around.

"He didn't follow us all the way home, at least," she finally sighed.

"Who? What's this about?" Sakura asked professionally, though not without a pinch of impatience.

"Kakashi," Hinata said, looking away from Sakura's gaze a bit shyly then. "I… saw you on the roof with him. When you got off work, he was nearby, watching you. He disappeared pretty soon after I showed up, but I wanted to be absolutely sure." It was Sakura's turn to slide her gaze away shyly now. Of course, she allows herself one hug from a handsome man and everyone knows. Apparently some things didn't change about Konoha. It was hard to hide in a town full of ninja.

"Okay," Sakura said cautiously, giving her the chance to go on.

"Don't you remember what Makoto said about stepping on butterflies? You need to be careful. It's improper to think you can be in a relationship on this mission. Especially with _Kakashi_," Hinata said strongly, which was a relative term when it came to the quiet kunoichi. Sakura opened her mouth and let out a laugh at that.

"We're not in a relationship. He was just… comforting me. I had a bit of a nostalgic moment, and he felt bad when he saw me crying," Sakura explained, rubbing the back of her head with one hand. Hinata pursed her lips. She was quiet for a long moment as she walked around the couch to sit on it, rubbing her knees absent-mindedly.

"It still doesn't add up. It wasn't just your hugging that made me think you had something… He was pretty excited. Just like you," Hinata said, giving a softly accusatory glance. "Even if he was just comforting you, why would he follow you afterwards?" Sakura dropped her hand from the back of her head, surprised to hear that.

"What do you mean, excited?"

"His heart was racing," Hinata said simply, dispelling all other possible meanings of 'excited.' Sakura pretended like that didn't disappoint her. Not that it surprised her. With this hair color and medic outfit, she was about as exciting as the business section of the newspaper. She walked over to sit next to Hinata on the couch, leaning her head back and stretching her legs out straight in a relaxed way.

"He wants my book," she said minimally. "He found it when I left it behind the other day, read a couple of pages, and barely gave it back to me. Now he won't leave me alone about borrowing it again. I can't exactly tell him to go to a bookstore, either. The thing is published five years in the future. Besides, Makoto said he had one of those good feelings about Kakashi, and that I should pursue a friendship with him."

Sakura avoided mentioning that he hadn't even asked about the book today. That was probably the real reason he'd bothered to stick around and pat her on the back like that, though she still didn't know why he hadn't brought it up afterwards. If he'd been waiting all day on that roof for it, it would have made sense if he didn't leave without it.

Hinata seemed to lapse deep into her own thoughts upon hearing Sakura's explanation, and Sakura didn't press her to share. After a long while, Hinata stood up suddenly. Apparently she had reached some sort of a conclusion.

"Just be careful," she said gently, looking at Sakura now with sympathy in those strangely normal brown eyes of hers. Sakura felt her jaw go slack, and she just nodded in response. Hinata had a way of making you feel bad about what you've done without even trying to. Hell, sometimes Sakura just felt guilty when she watched Hinata help somebody pick something up in the street. It was rare that Hinata would be the one to yell at you for doing something wrong; she was usually the one who would look at you with those big sad eyes and you would immediately start apologizing.

As her roommate walked into her bedroom and closed the door behind her quietly, Sakura sighed and slumped further into the couch. Her mind wandered immediately to Kakashi. Hinata was right to be worried. There was trouble brewing there, and Sakura knew it better than anyone else. Makoto had told her to pursue a friendship, and she had taken it two steps further. She'd tickled him with abandon, and then she had sought comfort from him in her time of need. Sakura couldn't count the number of racy love stories she'd read that started off with those situations.

She sighed, picking at a mysterious pink crust of something on her medic uniform. In the end, whatever she felt towards Kakashi or his muscles was moot. She would continue with the kunoichi way and complete her mission. From now on, it was friends-only interactions with him. Even if she was sad, or if he was running away with a copy of a book that wasn't supposed to exist yet. Getting involved with Kakashi would most certainly be changing the future, and that was not what they were here to do. Sakura couldn't deny that it worried her what might happen if she bumped into the wrong person at the wrong moment. Makoto had said they had some leeway, but how much? How far could she go before she altered the future irreversibly and woke up to find the Konoha she knew and loved was gone forever?

Sick of thinking of such things, Sakura flung herself off the couch into a standing position. She headed to the bathroom, as a shower sounded wonderful right about then. As best as she could, she ignored the thoughts of her encounters with Kakashi today. The way he'd looked at her when she'd stopped tickling him, the way he'd held her so tightly on the roof…

Sakura shut off the water with a hiss of frustration with herself. She could not be developing feelings for Kakashi. For one thing, he was her teacher. For another, he was younger now. He wasn't the person she knew, and she was kidding herself to think otherwise.

Wrapping a towel around herself, she waltzed into her room. Once she was dry and dressed, she flopped onto her bed with Icha Icha and turned to the page she'd left off at. Amazingly, the book distracted her so well that the next thing she knew it was dark. Sakura found it more and more difficult to focus on the letters. Eventually, she folded the corner of the page she was on, put the book down, wormed under the covers, and went to sleep. The sheets still smelled like Ino's sharp perfume, but she hardly noticed.

When Sakura finally woke the next morning, she was pleased to find it was not by anything in particular. No team mate was shaking her awake for another long day at the hospital. Only the sunlight entered her room through the slits in the curtains, lighting the carpet it touched as if it were on fire. As she rolled onto her back, she watched the dust swirl lazily through the beams of light. Sakura stretched her body out in the tangled sheets, then laid like that for a while longer, slowly allowing herself to wake. She was now caught up on sleep, and ahead of her laid a weekend without a single plan in sight. A sigh of contentment passed her lips.

From the kitchen, Sakura could hear the low murmur of voices and the stirrings of someone moving about. Ino was probably here already, which meant she must have seriously slept in. Fully awake now, she pushed herself out of bed and walked to the kitchen, tugging her shirt straight as she did so.

In the doorway, she was startled for a moment to see that Hinata was the only person there. Then she noticed the open window, and the robin hopping animatedly around the counter tops.

"Sayuri, my sweet! What a vision of beauty you are this morning!" Gio sang, puffing up his chest and fluttering his wings upon seeing her.

"You as well, little Gio," Sakura said. His compliments came so frequently she hardly took them seriously anymore. Still, she scratched the back of his head with a finger affectionately before rubbing her hand down his body. The little bird leaned into her pets with noises of approval.

"I saw him sitting outside under the window, so I offered him something to eat," Hinata said, which explained the overturned bag of cereal on the counter.

"Haruhi, your voice is that of a choir of angels, but I must say your taste in food is quite unfortunate," Gio said regretfully, tilting his head to look up at her. Both of the girls laughed softly at that.

"We do need to go to the grocery store," Sakura agreed, though she doubted they would sell anything close to Gio's favorite food - which was live, wet earthworms.

"Yes, that cereal was here when we moved in," Hinata said with slight revulsion, throwing the box into the trash. Sakura snorted.

The rest of the morning moved at a leisurely pace. The girls got ready slowly, stopping occasionally to laugh about a certain piece of clothing that one had found in her bag or peer out the window at someone they knew who was walking by. Most shocking to see was Tsunade striding down the street, who looked absolutely the same, aside from a slight wardrobe change and lacking one Shizune at her side. Sakura deduced she was either just coming or leaving, from the large pack on her back.

For the day, she chose to wear the least Suna-looking outfit she could find. After making her room a mess with all of the fishnet and many strangely retro outfits, she finally found something. Simple black Capri pants that were a bit snug but still comfortable, and a sunny yellow tank top with a couple of pointless buttons at the collar. Of course, they were only pointless on her because she had no amazing cleavage to play peek-a-boo with.

"Haaaruhiii, I'm suitable," Sakura called from her room. "Let's go. We should stop by some clothing stores first… What I have to wear is just terrible."

"I have quite a couple of ugly things too," Hinata said as she walked out wearing a deep purple shirt that looked wonderful against her skin.

"Oh hush, you could wear a paper bag and your curves would still make it look amazing," Sakura scoffed. Hinata blushed, looking like she was trying to think of some rebuttal or return compliment for Sakura. She walked away before the other girl could think of anything. She didn't need to go fishing for compliments. Sakura was not in the mood to play 'who's the prettiest.'

Once they were ready, they headed over to Ino's apartment. Makoto answered the door, and the wonderful smell of home-made breakfast wafted out. Sakura grinned to see him wearing an apron like a true housewife.

"Smells delicious, Makoto," Hinata said as they walked in. Sakura nodded in agreement. Ino was lounging on the couch drinking a smoothie, and when she saw them she sat up a little more.

"What can I say, I chose the best husband," Ino said, cracking an imaginary whip in her hand. Makoto just chuckled lowly as he went back to the kitchen and continued poking at the things in the pots and pans on the stove.

They all talked and laughed boisterously as Makoto served them breakfast. It was the best food Sakura had eaten in a long time, seeing how the single life had left her with little motivation to cook family meals. Ino and Makoto seemed to be on friendly terms now, and Sakura wondered just what had or hadn't passed between them. She knew better than to bring it up when both of them were around though.

"Izumi, you should come shopping with us. Sayuri wanted to get some better clothing," Hinata said as she pushed her clean plate away from the edge of the table and dabbed her mouth with her napkin needlessly.

"What's wrong with the clothing you have?" Makoto asked with all the ignorance of a man. In the following silence, the sound of his chewing seemed deafening.

"They look like they're from ten years ago," Ino said, always the one to break the awkward silence.

"That's the point," Makoto said simply, unfazed by their tangible shock at his lack of fashion sense. Well, except for Hinata, who was tactful enough not to let her mouth hang open like a fish out of water.

"Look at what Sayuri's wearing!" Ino said with more energy, gesturing at Sakura's outfit.

"Wait, what's that supposed to -" Sakura started.

"Have you forgotten why we are here?" Makoto said in such a serious tone that another long silence filled the room, though he was no longer an ignorant man but their team leader - a master of time and space. Ino folded her arms and looked away stubbornly, though she had clearly felt the scolding in his voice.

"Makoto, we haven't forgotten," Hinata was already amending.

"Yeah, relax. I'm not saying I'm going to go buy a red vest and sew a white circle on the back, I just want something that's more me. Besides, most of our Suna outfits are not suitable for a Konoha winter," Sakura said. Makoto chewed his food in silence, then waived his fork at her in a way that her own mother would have chucked the pepper shaker at her for.

"Alright, alright, just nothing… ambitious," Makoto said. Sakura pondered what he meant by that exactly, but didn't feel like bringing it up.

After washing up for Makoto and waving him goodbye, the three girls headed down the young streets of Konoha in search of something to ease their aching wardrobes.


	6. The Deal

**The Circle**

Chapter 6: The Deal

* * *

"Haruhi, you hardly bought a thing," Ino said. "You can carry some of my bags." Hinata said nothing, taking the extra bags in her hands without complaint.

"Geez, Izumi. You shouldn't have gotten so much," Sakura said, hefting her own bags over her shoulder. Though the styles were a bit dated, she had still managed to find some more practical clothing as well as a couple of good dresses to go out in.

"You'll be wishing you had later when you're asking me to borrow something," she said in sing-song, twirling a smaller bag around her wrist. The three girls had shopped for a greater portion of the day, making their last stop the grocery store before they began to head back to their apartments.

"Oh, Izumi, I forgot to ask… What happened between you and Makoto exactly?" Sakura said as they meandered down a fairly empty lane.

"What do you mean?" Ino said, seeming unfazed by the question.

"He told me about your kiss," Sakura said. Hinata stiffened slightly in surprise, but said nothing. She seemed to have a respect for Ino that Ino did not even have for herself.

Ino looked at Sakura with a shocked expression for a moment, then burst out laughing when she saw that she was serious.

"Sayuri, you have to be kidding. We never kissed or anything," Ino said, throwing her small bag in the air and catching it in a move that was a little too skilled for a normal girl. Sakura hardly noticed, so preoccupied she was with that statement. Ino had no reason to lie to her and Hinata, so it must have been Makoto.

"What happened the first night we were here?" Sakura asked.

"Well, we went to our place and started to set things up when I realized I needed some womanly supplies, like, immediately. The lights were already out at your place, so I just went to the store. Of course, the first one I tried to go to wasn't there anymore - err, I mean yet - so I had to go even farther in the opposite direction. It's not like I could just go flying around or anything, so by the time I got home Makoto was asleep. I went to sleep too, and that was that," Ino said simply. "Did he tell you I kissed him that night? You might have to inform him that if he's kissing me in my sleep, just because I don't push him off doesn't mean I was kissing back." Ino laughed.

Sakura smirked, but she was still disquieted. Either Makoto had made it up for some reason, or he hadn't. Already she could think of several jutsu that could easily trick someone as untrained as him, and they weren't exactly difficult either.

"He did tell me that. I don't think he was lying, either. Izumi, you need to keep a very close eye on him from now on. I don't know what's up, but I don't like it," Sakura said lowly. She would have to ask Gio and Naka to keep an eye on the other apartment as well.

"You think maybe someone used a transformation technique to act as me? I have seen several of the nurses giving Makoto the eye… Not that he even notices," Ino said.

"It could be anyone," Hinata spoke up, "and it may not be as harmless as a simple kiss. I agree with Sayuri. Please keep a close eye on him, Izumi." Ino blinked at the polite request, but nodded anyways. Ino never seemed to think much of their quiet team mate, but it was apparent that it was hard to her to be especially rude to her. Sakura did not get such a privilege, but that's because she and Ino were made of similar materials.

"It's probably Naruto. We all know he started to have an affinity to henge into leggy blonds early in life," Ino cracked, making the Sakura and Hinata laugh.

When they got home, they put everything away and Sakura put on one of her new outfits. Feeling much more like herself in a navy blue shirt, black fitting shorts, and a carefully-not-white-but-grey skirt, she decided to take that run outside of Konoha she'd been imagining. She snapped on her new sandals, told Hinata where she was going, and headed out with a promise to be back before dinner. While shopping, she had subtly bought a small, cheap beginner's set of kunai and shuriken. She took it with her now.

The sun was low in the sky now, not quite setting but only just peeking over the tops of the trees. Nobody interrogated her too closely as she walked out the gate, and once she was out of sight she picked up a quick jog. It was a pace she could sustain essentially indefinitely. Once she was sure no one had followed her out by a quick check with Gio, she picked up her pace, jumping onto a branch or bouncing sideways off a trunk occasionally.

Slowly, she pushed herself further and further physically. As the light faded, the intensity of the work she did increased. Though her body felt strained and stiff from no serious work for several days, it was a relief to finally feel the tug and give of her muscles being pushed to their limits. She parried with imaginary opponents and practiced her kunai tossing in various situations. Naka landed softly on a branch in front of her just as Sakura was about to kick the tree over. She paused with her leg in the air.

"Sayuri," the dark bird said from where she was practically invisible on a branch. It was night now - this was Naka's element. She knew Gio was probably curled up somewhere warm by now. Sakura put her leg down and nodded in greeting, knowing she wasn't interested in small talk as Gio usually was.

"There is someone approaching quickly. He has silver hair. You have spoken to him before," Naka said calmly.

"Kakashi," Sakura breathed. This was not a good time to be caught. Her hands felt like they were covered with red paint. With a nod to Naka, she darted off into the forest, heading a little East and a little closer to town quickly. If she was to be discovered, it was better not to be by the huge trees split in half bearing kunai marks. Sakura stashed her weapons kit in a bush and kept going. Naka glided silently through the branches above her.

"He is thirty seconds off. Shouldn't we summon Kai?" Naka asked, not sounding winded in the slightest.

"No," Sakura said. "He knows I'm here now. I'm sure he would notice if my trail ended abruptly. Go and tell Haruhi that I will be back a little late. Don't tell her about Kakashi, just say that I'm having too much fun out here. Then come back, but stay hidden." She fell to a slow walk then. There was a small creek nearby, and she stopped to perch on a large rock by its edge. This was probably a good enough place to be found meandering about, what with the lovely way the moon sparkled on the babbling water, though she really should have gotten back before it got dark.

For the next twenty seconds, Sakura sat quietly and listened to her heart rate slow. It actually was quite relaxing, and she could see how a normal person might enjoy a stroll here… In the day time. Naka was nowhere to be seen or heard, but Sakura knew she would reach Hinata quickly and be back soon after. Unlike Gio, she could not be in public easily without drawing attention, but her skills in stealth made up for it.

Kakashi approached very silently, but Sakura knew he was there. Still, she did her best to appear at unawares until he intentionally stepped on a twig.

Standing up quickly, she whirled around with the appropriate expression of surprise. It helped that she actually was somewhat surprised he had followed her out here. Then again, he was Kakashi. He was pretty nosy for such an outwardly uncaring person.

"Kakashi? What're you doing here?" Sakura asked, resisting the temptation to cross her arms over her chest. She wasn't supposed to be upset for the interruption, but she was. There were a couple of dead trees she had run by that had had her name on them for kicking to splinters.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," he responded lowly, putting his hands in his pockets and considering her with an inscrutable expression. Sakura fidgeted a little uncomfortably. There was a long silence as both of them waited for the other to answer. She wished he would just go and let her break the rules a little, yet at the same time she couldn't bring herself to tell him to leave.

Stubbornly, Sakura held her silence and turned around to resume sitting by the creek. She let the bottoms of her sandals graze the top of the water just barely. It made the skin prickle on her neck to turn her back on him and feel his gaze still on her. Goose bumps rose on her arms as her heart fell to a resting rate and the chill of night crept in.

"Really though, it's a bit late to be out here," Kakashi said from where he seemed to appear by her side.

"Not too late to be stalking innocent girls, apparently," Sakura replied stubbornly, still refusing to answer first. She had asked first. Kakashi chuckled.

"Yes, but unfortunately I have seen none out tonight," he said with a significant glance down at her. She had to hold herself back from searching for something to throw at him. He still seemed to see the intent there, because he chuckled again lowly.

There was another stubborn moment of silence that passed, and during it Sakura wondered why it was Kakashi. Of all the people she knew in the present, why him to be the one to gain an interest in her? She hadn't done anything to seek him out yet, and here he was. Sakura knew he had some flimsy reason about wanting to read her book from Rouri, but it seemed out of character for him to be seeking her out like this.

"Honestly, I thought you were fleeing town when I caught your scent outside the border," Kakashi said as if he was answering her thoughts, looking away so she could only see his closed right eye. Sakura rubbed her fingers over her knees, a little worried then.

"Why would you think that?" She asked innocently, actually knowing multiple reasons.

"Sayuri, you are a skilled medic. I know that. I know you certainly don't need any training from that Rouri," Kakashi said flatly. Sakura looked at him sideways, and noticed he seemed tense. His hands were in his pockets, but he wasn't actually so carefree as he wished to appear just then. She hardly realized the cold anymore, so focused she was on his reaction. Each moment of silence filled her with more fear. He knew. He knew she was here for some other reason, and being the copy ninja he knew better than to assume the kindest of intentions from her. She looked down at her hands then, struggling for the words to fix this.

"I know what this looks like. Really, I'm not here to cause any harm," Sakura began lowly, fiddling with the hem on her skirt. She did her best to keep her tone low and slightly embarrassed. "I… My friend, Izumi, from Suna came here with her husband, Makoto. They've only recently married. Still though, I… I love him. I have for a long time, and do. I never did anything about it, and I know now I can never hope to… but when I heard he was leaving with Izumi, I didn't really think about it. I managed to convince my hospital that I needed the training and that I would do good with it in Suna, so I came. I do feel embarrassed about my reasons for being here… so I act like I really am just learning."

Sakura looked up to see Kakashi's gaze on her now. She felt she had done quite well with that reason, but he still looked unsatisfied somehow. Sakura frowned and looked down at her hands again.

"I'm not going to get my spy allies or whatever," Sakura said, pouting a little. "I just wanted some time to clear my head, so I came out here. I'm trying to get over him, but it's hard." Kakashi sighed lowly then, and she glanced up at him to see his posture a bit more relaxed. Apparently her answer had satisfied him.

"I didn't think you were going to harm anyone," Kakashi said a little bit apologetically. "I should turn you in, though. You lied to Konoha." Sakura gasped lowly, grinding her teeth at the ridiculousness of it all. She was doing this - all of it - _for_ Konoha. To find Denna, and help them in the future. Of course, he couldn't know that, but it still made frustration heat her cheeks.

"Please," Sakura begged as best as she could, turning to face him more as she clasped her hands together. She much would have preferred to threaten him than beg, but that would not have helped in the slightest. "Don't tell anyone. I can't go back now, alone… I know it's silly, but I love him." She let a little of her real worry show, hoping it passed as love for Makoto. Kakashi's gaze on her softened a little, and she saw his brow quirk in something like pity. That was good. If she was pitiful, she was definitely not a threat to him.

"I won't," Kakashi said in a low, intense tone. Sakura faltered at the sudden change in his voice, but he was looking away now. A moment passed before he spoke again, normal as usual. "As long as you lend me that book of yours." When he looked back at her, there was a subtle crinkle around his eyes, like he was smirking. Sakura blinked.

"Sure, but you have to teach me how to fight in exchange," she said, standing up and brushing off her skirt and legs needlessly. "More than just self-defense, too." Kakashi's brow turned down again. Sakura stood in front of him with a playful smile.

"That's not how a deal works. I'm getting the book in exchange for not turning you in," he said, pointing first to himself and then to her as he spoke, as if that would make his argument.

"Hm, are you sure? I could just tell you the whole story right now. The relationship between Hideki and Aiko actually -"

"Don't tell me!" Kakashi said suddenly, cutting Sakura off in a tone that showed his youth for once. She grinned triumphantly. He considered her for a moment, then turned abruptly. "I'll just be heading to tell the Hokage, then."

He sounded so serious in that moment, Sakura couldn't help but grab his harm in a flash, holding him from going. He didn't struggle, just stood there. He hadn't been intending to leave at all. As he looked over his shoulder at her, she knew she'd shown her give. Kakashi still had the upper hand in this bargain, as much as she had tried to turn it around. Sakura set her lips stubbornly, still holding his arm and glaring at him with all the resentment that she dared. She still felt like a fool for falling for his bluff. In that moment, with the way he looked at her, she could see he really did feel too bad for her to turn her in. Now she was poor little Sayuri, silently heartsick after the one man who would never love her. Sakura hated having to act like the weak one, but it really had been the only thing she could think of that was convincing.

"Alright, fine," Kakashi said with a sigh after a while, "I'll teach you. Besides, you'll need it to keep off that Makoto guy once he tires of his wife." Sakura blinked in a stunned way, wondering where that had come from. She let his arm go then, and he lowered it to his side slowly as if she might grab him again if he moved too quickly.

"He loves his wife. He would never leave her for me," Sakura mumbled modestly, looking away. Kakashi let out a single, sharp laugh at that.

"I wouldn't be so sure," he said.

"What makes me any better than her?" Sakura challenged, tensing her jaw. Even fake marriage aside, Sakura had never felt like she held much of a candle to the flirty, leggy blond.

"You know, in Konoha we have these wonderful things called mirrors," he taunted lazily, and Sakura had to work to understand the compliment in there. She knew what he meant, but it warmed her insides and now she had to milk it. She smiled slyly until he looked back over to her and she adopted an expression of innocence quickly.

"We have mirrors in Suna," Sakura tried to sound appropriately insulted. "What are you implying?" Kakashi looked at her fathomlessly then, sighing so low he probably thought she hadn't heard. Standing directly in front of her, Sakura was struck again by how tall he was. Something about knowing him for so long and so well made him seem shorter to her, but he really was a good head taller than her. Plus it was rare for them to stand so close.

Still gazing at her with that dark, bottomless look of his that made Sakura feel like she could crawl into it, he reached up with one hand and brushed his fingers along the side of her cheek. He touched her very lightly, just skimming his fingertips along her temple and down to the bottom of her cheek beneath her ear. Where he touched her skin, it burned with an electric heat that sent a shiver down her spine. She could only hope he hadn't noticed that. Sakura tried to hold her expression into something like surprised innocence, but with all of the heat rushing to her face it was hard to tell how that was managing.

Kakashi's open eye narrowed just a fraction, and he dropped his hand abruptly.

"I think you know what I'm saying," he said, his tone mostly flat except for a very subtle amount of amusement in it. Sakura touched her cheek thoughtfully, looking up at him incredulously. This wasn't the Kakashi she knew, with the heat in his fingers and the odd emotions that flickered through his single open eye. He seemed so raw in comparison to the Kakashi she had grown up with. Yet in so many ways, he was still the man who had taught her most of the things she knew. There was still a subtle warmth to him, hidden as it was by the carefree aloofness of him that seemed to transcend time. She wondered what had happened between now and in the future to make him lose that harsher edge he seemed to have now. She also wondered what in the world he was thinking now as he watched her watching him.

"Come on, it's late," Kakashi said. Sakura nodded, walking towards the path that would lead them home. She thought of her forlorn kunai pouch and hoped he would leave her to move slowly as a silly citizen girl like herself would. Once he was gone, she would go back and get it. Maybe she would stay a little longer and… Sakura cut her thoughts off short as she noticed him still with her. He wasn't leaving.

"I don't need an escort," Sakura said indignantly. Kakashi looked at her, seeming to differ on that point.

"But you're slow," Kakashi said, as if that was even a valid argument for him to stay behind. Sakura felt a crease form between her brows. She opened her mouth to retort sharply, but he put his back to her in a weird way that made her pause in her tracks. Then he kneeled down. "Here, get on." Oh.

"But -" Sakura began.

"Listen, the patrol will be coming through here soon. Get on; I can still move quicker than you even if I have to carry you," Kakashi said, and Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch. As much as she would love to press herself up against the wonderful muscles in his back, she wouldn't stand to be disrespected. Besides, what the hell did he know about how quick she was?

"Just because we have a deal doesn't make me some sack of potatoes you can throw over your shoulder whenever you want!" She said heatedly, smacking the back of his fuzzy head with her open palm before she pointedly walked away. Sakura got ten steps before he was beside her again, walking with her as if he didn't have a care in the world. At least, he was going for that. This Kakashi was not so good of an actor, and she could tell he was actually concerned by the frequency of his glances at her. She ignored him, moving as fast as she could without breaking into a run. Kakashi walked along beside her easily. She cursed her short legs. After a while, Kakashi sighed softly.

"Okay… please?" Sakura heard him say. She lifted her eyebrows in appraise.

"Please what?"

"Can I please carry you home?" Kakashi asked cautiously. Something about the reserved way he said it made Sakura wish she hadn't pressed the matter, and she chewed her lip. Still, it was worth it to see just a hint of blush on his cheeks as he scratched the back of his head with one hand in a characteristic way. He was… embarrassed. "It's cold and late… and I can't just leave a lady alone in the woods." Kakashi was worried about her - a 'lady' - and he was shy about his chivalry. _He's blushing!_ Sakura held back her giggles and the temptation to pinch him on the cheek. Even though he was showing that he was indeed many years younger than the Kakashi she knew, he was still a grown man.

"Much better," Sakura said with a warm smile. Kakashi returned it, but there was a quirk to his eyebrows that showed his slight confusion. She laughed at that, which only confused him more. _Apparently he still has a lot to learn from Hideki after all,_ Sakura thought to herself.

Without further ado, he turned around and Sakura clambered onto his back, feeling rather silly to be doing it completely conscious and healthy. She was more than able to keep up with him. Still, she hardly minded it now that he had a chivalrous reason to do it. Kakashi's back was solid and warm, and she was acutely aware of his hands where they held the backs of her thighs.

"Just don't strangle me, please," he said as he vaulted himself into the trees, picking up a leisurely pace. So much for his need for speed. Sakura laughed quietly, holding onto his broad shoulders. Being carried along, she realized now that she was more tired than she had realized. It must be late. She wondered what Naka thought of this. The owl always had a very refreshing, frank outlook on the world. While sometimes it was insulting, other times it was enlightening.

Sakura sighed lowly, resting her chin on his shoulder and leaning her head against his neck sleepily. His skin was incredibly warm where it touched hers, though in their self-created wind she could hardly catch his wonderful smell. His calloused hands felt rough on the smooth skin of her legs, but he held her gently and moved with more grace than she was used to seeing in him. Kakashi was a very efficient mover, but now he seemed to take care to cushion his landings. She closed her eyes against the wind. Sakura found herself getting carried away in her thoughts, that she was something very fragile and special to him, that he would hold her gently and kiss her softly…

_Snap out of it, horndog,_ Sakura scolded herself. On the back of the very person was no place to let your mind get carried away about him. However, it did make her realize something very important just then.

Short as she had known him and terrible as it was, Sakura had feelings for Kakashi.

She wanted to be around him, she wanted to feel his skin against hers every chance she could get, and most of all she wanted him to feel the same. It had been wishful thinking the day before that she could push this away or ignore it. Her feelings were there, and as much as she could hide them, they still existed.

"Did you fall asleep?" Kakashi said lowly. Sakura smiled to herself.

"Yes. The tea cup ride at the fair is more exciting," she teased. Opening her eyes, she could see they were in Konoha again. About two blocks from her apartment now. Sakura pushed herself up as if to hop off, but Kakashi still held her legs around his waist. She was trying very desperately to ignore that she was straddling him. He wasn't helping.

"Okay, you can let me down now," Sakura said.

"We're not there yet," Kakashi said simply, even though he was walking now and she could do that herself.

"Please, I can walk," Sakura said a little more sharply. All of a sudden, his hands released her legs and she pushed off of him, landing on her feet gracefully. Maybe a little too gracefully for Sayuri, but nobody seemed to notice.

"Yeah, and you wouldn't want Makoto to see you draped over another man, would you?" Kakashi said, sounding miffed. Sakura felt her mouth fall open, and she closed it quickly. Despite his rude comment, her anger didn't rise to it. Something about the way he'd said that held her back, despite his impassive expression.

"Thank you for the help," Sakura finally said after a while, beginning to walk back towards her apartment. Kakashi looked like he was going to say something for a moment, and she paused to listen, but nothing followed that. He just kept looking at her, with that deep gaze of his. It was almost as if he could read the story of her life right out of the back of her head. She'd always known it was in him, but never before had Sakura truly felt the scrutiny of Kakashi Hatake as she did just then.

"What?" Sakura said defensively. Kakashi looked away with a shrug that was almost bashful.

"Nothing… I'll see you around, Sayuri," he said, waving and turning to walk the opposite way. Sakura nodded and began to walk back to her apartment, her feet feeling heavy despite the free ride home. Far from the last time, she wished it could be her real name on his voice.

The next number of days passed without event for the time-travelers. After their first day of actual training, the girls were all paired up with newer, more experienced medics to shadow. Nevertheless, Sakura still kept up contact with Rouri, finding a strange comfort in having a friend of this time. It made her feel like she was really here, and not just watching some creepy movie from the past. Surprisingly, Kakashi didn't show his face after he'd escorted her home that night.

For a while she was thankful she didn't have to confront her feelings on him. Then, when Makoto started questioning if she'd gotten any clues out of him yet, she found herself growing increasingly frustrated. Sakura had nothing to tell Makoto. Even when she did find out Kakashi's whereabouts on a mission out of town through hear-say, it didn't help. For all of her training and abilities, she felt useless on this mission. Sakura knew that this was partly how it was supposed to be, subtle and slow, but it still made her antsy. She would much rather be stuck fighting her opponents everyday than waiting around for them to drop a hint.

Ino had proven to have some luck. The new woman she was shadowing was actually a sibling to an ANBU member, and Ino had been bringing home plenty of information. Even though no hints about Denna specifically had come about, this only stirred more frustration in Sakura. She couldn't help but feel competitive with Ino still.

It was only a couple of weeks after following their new shadows and having more hands-on training that things picked up again. The three girls were surprised to see the third Hokage waiting in the hospital lobby. As he waved them over, Sakura saw Rouri just around the corner. The short medic give her a sly wave and smile before darting off. Standing next to the Hokage was Kaede, the medic that Sakura had been shadowing.

"Good morning, Sayuri," Kaede said, smiling at Sakura as she walked up. The Hokage simply watched them closely.

"Kaede was just informing me of your great progress here," he said to her without so much as an introduction. Not that he needed it in the slightest. Even meager medics from Suna knew who the Hokage was. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata all gave slight bows in greeting.

"Thank you, sir," Sakura said politely.

"All of you have progressed much quicker than anticipated, actually," he said. This sent a cold slice of fear through her insides, despite the fact that Hinata was included. Sakura and Ino had been careful not to become any better than Hinata, but now she wondered if they should have even made Hinata learn more slowly.

"As a result," the Hokage continued without event, "we will soon be asking you to shadow on some low-level missions. Being a medic is much more than working in a well-stocked, fully-employed hospital. I just wanted to be sure you all understood and felt prepared for that part of your contract with us." The three girls nodded mutely, and with that he bid them farewell.

"Alright then, to work we go," Kaede said to Sakura without a moment to spare, which made Ino and Hinata hurry off to find their own teachers. Kaede was extremely business-oriented, and it showed from her curt manner to the neat bun she kept her strawberry blond hair in. Sakura enjoyed shadowing a medic with more skill, but still missed Rouri's fun attitude a lot of the time.

Kaede seemed completely uninterested in being anything more than a co-worker to Sakura. So as she followed her teacher around, making small noises of recognition as Kaede showed her things with each patient, Sakura let her mind wander.

It had been two weeks, two days, and fourteen hours since he had last seen Sayuri from Suna. Kakashi did not find it creepy that he knew that easily off the top of his head, because he usually remembered things like that. He hadn't been made the youngest jounin for his fashion taste and hairstyle, as much as some green-spandexed shinobi liked to believe. He wondered what she thought of him not showing up to train her.

The truth was, the Hokage had sent him on another mission. Kakashi hadn't expected it, but upon hearing of the mission's directive, he knew he was the only one suited for it. So a long travel to a private estate in the Lightning country it was, without so much as a see you later to anyone.

Reaching up for a mug out of his cabinet, there was an odd squelching sound that accompanied the pain searing from the open wound on his back. Kakashi set the mug on the counter and groaned lowly to himself. He should probably go to the hospital. Glancing at the clock, he realized it was probably late enough for Sayuri to be there by now. Leaving the mug on the counter unused, he slipped on his sandals again and headed out with a sigh. Using the front door and steps like this always made him feel senile.

Uncreepy as it was for Kakashi to know many things, he half-wondered to himself why he found himself thinking of how many days ago he last saw Sayuri. She didn't stand out much - she wasn't kunoichi, she didn't dress immodestly - and yet he had found his thoughts consumed by her as he'd traveled. What did she see in that Makoto guy? Kakashi had hardly given him half a second's glance when he'd seen him behind the hospital desk. He was clearly just an average guy whose strongest ability was his neat handwriting.

Sayuri could definitely get better. Not only was she attractive, but there was a subtle strength to her that was both physical and mental. She had a strong set of core beliefs and would not do well stuck beneath a husband that tried to make her someone she was not. She reminded him of the sun, and the way it gave light to the moon without expecting anything back, yet all the while remaining bright and strong. Plus, she was so warm and soft. He thought of her little laugh in his ear when he'd given her a ride back to Konoha, and a warmth moved down his spine. The effect was only dulled by how many times he had already replayed that memory since leaving.

"Kakashi!" A voice called out, but he didn't wait up even as he heard someone running up behind him. Already he recognized Tenzou stomping ungracefully to a slower walk next to his elder.

"Yo," he said to his friend with a nod.

"How was your -" Tenzou gasped as he had patted his friend on the back and his hand came away with blood. "Kakashi! You need to get to the hospital!" Already there was a patronizing tone in the teenager's voice.

"I am," Kakashi said, telling the truth for once. Of course, he'd cried wolf so many times now that nobody listened.

"Fine, you won't mind if I come with then," Tenzou said simply, putting his hands in his pockets and walking in the way he did when he was trying to look carefree like Kakashi. It was obvious Tenzou didn't believe him. Kakashi sighed and rolled his eyes but said nothing.

_Tap._ The noise made Sakura stiffen slightly. It was only a soft sound on the window, but it could easily be Gio. Kaede was already walking out of the stock room.

"Coming?" She called over her shoulder.

"Yes, I'll catch up in a moment," Sakura lied deftly. Kaede was entirely unconcerned, and Sakura listened until she was sure she had gone into another patient's room before approaching the window. Then she went over and opened the window quickly. Gio was not on the sill as she had expected. Strange.

"Hello?" She called out innocently enough. Sakura wondered if she had imagined it. Worse, what if Gio had been trying to tell her something and was caught in the act? She looked down immediately, scanning for feathers or miniature copies of Shakespeare - anything that would show he might have been here. All she saw was the blur of someone flying upwards before she shoved herself back from the window, her kunoichi skills kicking in as she quickly grabbed the first heavy object that she could and took a defensive stance.

With a small struggle and a grunt, Kakashi slid through the window and landed in a slumped sitting position. Sakura forced herself out of her defensive position and lost the substitute weapon as he looked up from where he was hunched somewhat awkwardly, as if in pain. Then she noticed his wound and let out a little gasp, walking over quickly.

"KAKASHI!" A somewhat familiar voice yelled from outside on the ground, three stories below.

"May I?" Kakashi asked politely. Already absorbed in locating the injuries on him, Sakura had to replay his words in her head.

"Um, what?" Then she looked up to see him holding an IV bag of saline solution, which he then chucked accurately out the window. Sakura just rolled her eyes, focusing on her work.

"KA - ugh!" The voice from below was cut off as Kakashi's throw seemed to hit its mark. Sakura would have laughed at that, but based on the amount of blood soaking his shirt, she didn't have time to tease him.

"Take your shirt off," she ordered. Kakashi made a weak attempt, but his eyes pinched in pain when he tried to move the arm attached to his injured shoulder.

"A little help," he muttered in a tired voice that hardly held the inflection of a question in it. Sakura didn't hesitate - she sliced the shirt with her chakra and removed the pieces neatly. Kakashi was slumped against the wall weakly now, and the amount of blood on the floor was alarming. Still, she was careful to leave his mask intact. Easy as it would have been to say she'd cut it off accidentally in her hurry to help him, it felt unfair. She respected him. Whatever his real reason was for hiding his face, Sakura couldn't help but respect that as well.

"Idiot," she said lowly as she examined the wound on his shoulder. There was a ragged, dark edge to it with a fresher tear in the middle. He must have re-opened it while climbing up the hospital wall. Sakura put her hands to it, stopping the bleeding first before she began to knit together the rest of the wound. Once it had been reduced to nothing more than a rough scar and a large patch of angry red skin, she attended to a few of his other injuries before pulling back and taking a breath.

"Kakashi?" Sakura said hesitantly then, noticing his eyes were closed. He seemed to have fallen asleep. In his own pool of blood. In the hospital where she was supposed to be a novice. Suddenly Sakura felt her muscles lock up with fear. How many times was this man going to try and blow her cover? She could have hit him, but she'd only just healed his black eye and considered it a waste.

Thinking quickly, she moved over to the window again. Peeking out, she could see someone kicking some rocks around in the dirt below the window. There was a wet spot on his left shoulder.

"Hey, you," Sakura called out. Hopefully Kakashi only made ninja friends. She was surprised when the boy looked up and she met the eyes of a young Tenzou, looking slightly weary. "Can you come up here and help your friend?" At that, Tenzou quickly scaled the building, only bounding off a nearby tree once to reach the windowsill and toss himself through to land on his feet. In the pool of blood he hadn't expected.

"Wha -" Tenzou let out as he skidded a couple of extra feet, and Sakura grabbed him to keep him from falling. She had enough to clean up without him knocking over a couple of supply carts.

"Get him out of here. Someone's going to come in soon and they'll want to admit him," Sakura said in a hushed tone. Tenzou looked at her closely for the first time, and blinked in surprise. He seemed to be sizing her up, and she wanted to roll her eyes. There was no time for this. Then again, it was no skin off of _his_ back if someone walked in now.

"Now!" Sakura hissed.

"Alright," Tenzou said apologetically, though he was still regarding her cautiously. He bent over Kakashi to pick him up to see his wounds had healed.

"I'll be over on my lunch break to check up on him and give him a few more things. Just get him to his bed and make him drink water if he wakes up," Sakura said in a low, rushed tone. She was already beginning on the puddle of blood on the floor as Tenzou nodded and exited the room silently. Only once she had heard the gentle thud of his feet on the ground outside did she let herself breathe.

A few moments later, Ino entered the room. Sakura planned on assuming that Hinata had seen the whole thing, though she was surprised to see Ino there. They shared a silent look as Sakura swallowed despite the feeling that her heart was in her throat.

"Tell me later?" Ino ventured, seeing the look on her friend's face and knowing better than to expect Sakura to be able to tell her much here. Sakura just nodded mutely. Ino grabbed a sponge and began to scrub with her in silence. As much as the blond acted like it, she really wasn't obnoxious all the time.

Outside, it began to rain.

"Sa… soy sauce…" Kakashi mumbled in his restless unconsciousness. Tenzou had been sitting beside the silver-headed idiot for a while now, holding a half-full glass of water. He perked up as the copy ninja's eyes moved in a hopeful way.

"Here, drink this," Tenzou insisted. He held the glass out to Kakashi. With surprising accuracy, he slapped it away and rolled over to hold his pillow more tightly to his bare chest.

"…from the likes of you, Makoto…" Kakashi mumbled again. Tenzou sighed, picking up the glass off the floor and trying to brush the water off his shirt. That only helped it soak in more, and he sighed again. Refilling the cup, he set it carefully out of reach and wandered into the living room.

Normally he wouldn't have bothered to be here, but remembering the angry flash in that medic's eyes made him quell at the thought of her finding her patient left alone. Tenzou didn't know why he felt so intimidated by such a small girl, but he did. In the end, she had done a very understanding thing to heal Kakashi without tying him down to a hospital bed as he so despised, and the least he could do was help her a bit.

"…A piggy ride," Kakashi muttered loudly enough in his sleep for Tenzou to hear from the living room. There was such a serious insistence in his tone that the teenage ANBU member couldn't hold back the following laughter. He put his fist to his lips and laughed as silently as he could. Kakashi normally slept like the dead, so this was hilarious.

There was a sharp knock on the door just then. Tenzou straightened up immediately, answering the door. Behind it stood the girl from the hospital. _Hardly a girl, though…_ Tenzou tried to hide how his gaze flicked down the shape of her body, which showed the conclusive curves of a woman. It didn't help she was sopping wet from having apparently run through the rain. Mud splatters decorated the hem of her medic outfit.

"Can I come in?" The medic asked with a flat impatience, raising an eyebrow at Tenzou. There was a stern look in her bold green eyes, and Tenzou felt a little intimidated by that. Either he was more of a wimp than he'd realized, or this girl was much tougher than her muddy brown hair and porcelain skin let on. The sound of the rain pattering on the metal roof filled the space between them awkwardly. Tenzou thought he heard a heavy thump from somewhere, but it sounded like it could have been the next apartment.

"Sure," he said belatedly. "He's in the bedroom." Without so much as a thank you, she strode right in. He'd been about to remind her to take her shoes off, only to look down to see she had done so while walking in. Tenzou scratched his head at her unusual grace, but closed the door and followed her much more slowly to Kakashi's room.

He tried to see the jounin's house the way that she would be seeing it. It was a neat enough apartment, but it looked like a ghost house. There were no family mementos or real decorations, and the only furniture he had was purely practical. Tenzou had remembered the man who had given Kakashi his couch to practically force it on him, and to this day he probably hadn't sat on it once.

"Ah - oof! Kakashhhmmrf -" Tenzou snapped out of his reverie at the odd sound of the girl's voice from the other room. Stepping into the room quickly, he had to hold back his guffaw at the situation. Somehow Kakashi had pinned the medic against a wall of his room, and now she was struggling both to hold him upright and keep herself from being crushed.

"…my…strawberries," Kakashi muttered into where his face was pressed between the wall and her shoulder. Tenzou let out a snigger then, and two green eyes were suddenly shooting needles at him from underneath the nearly six foot tall copy ninja. He jumped, running over to them immediately and hurling Kakashi off of her and onto his bed. It didn't require much strength, just leverage - none of which the little medic had had.

Kakashi mumbled something incoherent then, and his hands twitched. Tenzou smirked but looked at the girl kindly.

"Are you alright? He usually has better moves on girls than that," he joked.

"Ah," she said simply as she fixed her outfit and smoothed her hair with a deep breath. Tenzou thought he saw her mouth something to herself, but didn't catch what it was.

"He was on the floor when I came in. I was trying to get him on the bed," she explained. Tenzou nodded.

"Yeah, he's been like this since I brought him home," he said with a gesture.

"No, Makoto…" Kakashi rebutted sleepily. The medic's expression seemed to warm with slight amusement at that, and he wondered who Makoto was to be so recurring. Hell, he wondered who _she_ was.

"I'm Tenzou, by the way," he said.

"Sayuri," she replied, her pink lips spreading into a kind smile as she looked at him. She really did have nice teeth, too.

"That's a pretty name," Tenzou said amicably. She smiled a little wider, but seemed to have no reply for that and looked away quickly. He took a step closer, wondering what was bothering her. Maybe Kakashi had said something scary in his delirious sleep to her. It wouldn't have surprised him. However, Tenzou didn't have a chance to get the words out, as something hard knocked him in the head all of a sudden.

"Ack!" He exclaimed, feeling the bump already forming on his head as he looked to see a small hardcover book hit the floor by his feet. There was a slot of the same size right next to Kakashi's left hand, and Tenzou was surprised to see one dark eye peering at him now.

"Go to the grocery store," Kakashi said in a voice that would have been deadly except for the fact that he slurred his words and his eyes were closed again shortly after. It was Sayuri's turn to snort in amusement now, and Tenzou shot her a baleful look that fell flat against her unabatedly pleased green eyes. Sayuri wasted no more time to put in an IV and check up on Kakashi, though she did giggle every once in a while.

"Betrayer," the copy ninja muttered lowly when Sayuri's fingers brushed over his bare ribs. The medic smirked in a knowing way then, and Tenzou was surprised by that. He'd never seen this girl before today.

"So you're a medic?" He asked conversationally. She glanced over with a blank look to her eyes, as if she'd forgotten he was there.

"Yes, sort of. I'm visiting from Suna to learn at your hospital," she amended. Tenzou pursed his lips a little. She was very good for a trainee, what with the way she had healed his wound so quickly on the spot. As Sayuri finished, she sat perched on the edge of Kakashi's bed and checked the IV bag again, which she had tacked to the wall. Tenzou considered her closely. She looked pretty pale to be from Suna, and her hands seemed a bit rough for a medic in training.

Sayuri looked at him, sensing his gaze, and then she began to visibly squirm. The blood flooded to her cheeks as Tenzou continued to watch. He was surprised to see his scrutiny so affect her now, when earlier she had practically bowled him over to get into the house. Then she reached back behind her and pulled Kakashi's hand out… from where it had moved to cup her pert bottom. Tenzou watched as he saw one of her eyes twitch multiple times in a row, biting his lip to hold back the laughter.

Sayuri turned and placed Kakashi's hand on the bed gently, coughing loudly into her other fist for a few moments. Tenzou furrowed his brow. That probably wasn't a medically professional thing to do - cough on the patient. Then again, what did he know about Suna's medics anyways?

"Well, I should get back before my break is over," she said. "I'll leave the IV in. It will hydrate him and has some things to help him restore the blood he has lost. Don't let him take that thing out until he is no longer exhausted or delirious." Tenzou nodded automatically in response, watching her unfold a blanket and tuck it around him gently. He could see now why Suna would send her to be trained. She was meant to heal people.

"Thanks, Sayuri," Tenzou said softly. "I'm sure he would appreciate this." _If the damn bum was awake,_ he silently cursed his friend in his head. She'd come all this way to help him and he'd tried to crush her and grabbed her butt.

"Maybe," Sayuri said vaguely as she walked out, and Tenzou thought he saw a malevolent smirk on her face as she shut the door behind her with a little wave.


	7. Mothra

**The Circle**

Chapter 7: Mothra

* * *

"Sayuri," Kaede said.

"Hm?" Sakura responded mechanically, still thinking of the way Kakashi's chest had felt under her hands back at his house.

"Sayuri!" Kaede spoke urgently now, and the wonderful image vanished. She could see now that she had overfilled her cup of water and the excess had been running into the sink for who knows how long.

"Oh, sorry," she said quickly, wiping the sides of the cup dry before she handed it to their patient. The bedded child stared at her like she had just handed the cup to him using her feet. Sakura stuck her tongue out at the kid when Kaede's back was turned, then broke into an amused grin. The kid fought a smile in return. Sakura followed Kaede out of the room like a good little shadow.

"I have a briefing tomorrow for a mission this weekend. You are shadowing me for this one," Kaede said officially, with a little proud smile. When she wasn't standing next to Tsunade, Kaede was actually a pretty good medic. So it pleased Sakura that she was a source of pride to her teacher, even if the dirty blond never showed it.

"Great," Sakura said warmly. "When should I be there?"

"When I'm there. Nine, sharp," Kaede replied brusquely as she handed their last patient's file of the day to Makoto. "See you then, Sayuri." With that, the medic walked off. Sakura slumped over the front counter in a dramatic manner that Ino would have been jealous of. Makoto watched her calmly, his chin resting in his palm.

"Long day?" The time-traveler finally said after a while. Sakura looked up at him, wondering what details she should and shouldn't tell him. All of the lies were beginning to eclipse one another and get confusing.

"Yeah," Sakura settled with that simple answer. "Well, I'm going now."

"Wait, let me walk with you," Makoto said before she could walk out, grabbing his bag and waving to someone around the corner Sakura couldn't see. She had hoped to walk alone so she could daydream properly, but now that she looked into his multi-shaded eyes, she realized there were a couple of things she did need to tell him.

The sun shone upon the younger Konoha in a rare break from the clouds as it neared the horizon. Somewhere in the distance there were some bastards who had enjoyed sunshine all day, but at least Sakura got to see it one time before the next day. The stark contrast between the setting sun and the looming dark clouds overhead made her nervous for some reason she couldn't name. A few families roamed the streets, and children wearing outdated rain boots with buckles and polka dots screamed as they splashed each other in the puddles. Ninja leapt over the tops of the buildings easily in a stark contrast of the clumsy children below, occasionally calling out to each other and laughing about something. Maybe the difference between adult life and child's play wasn't so different after all. They were all human, after all.

"So I'm shadowing my first mission this weekend," Sakura said casually, pulling herself out of her deep thoughts even as she still watched this honest glimpse into the past of her town fade in the slanted, brilliant gold light.

"Exciting," Makoto said without a trace of true excitement.

"I hope so," Sakura replied.

For a while they talked about nothing of consequence, and then they found themselves alone on a small street. Sakura knew they really were alone now, and decided to tell him.

"So, Makoto… Has Izumi made anymore moves on you?"

"Not since our first night here," he said lowly, looking thoughtful.

"Well, I talked to her, and she told me she never did that. So, someone must have played a trick on you while she was at the store that night," Sakura said gravely. Makoto was silent for a moment after that, turning his face towards the sunset so she couldn't see his expression. When he looked back, there was a cautious set to his eyes.

"Why would they do that?"

"We're not sure," Sakura said solemnly. "It could have just been a prank on the foreigners, or something more. I want you to keep an eye out for anything strange. The three of us have decided we need a pass code just in case you're ever unsure whether one of us isn't real."

"How can I even be sure you're real?" Makoto said, looking at her with a new hardness in his eyes. Sakura blanched, but she had expected that question to come up. Farther down the street, a little girl burst out of a building exuberantly, a few family members following. The street slowly crept back to life, and they were no longer alone. She had to be cautious now.

"I know you and Izumi don't really love each other," Sakura said in a quiet voice. It wasn't something that would be necessarily mission-threatening for someone to overhear, but it wouldn't help either.

"Okay," Makoto said without a trace of his normally light tone, sounding quite convinced.

"The pass code is our real leader," she said quickly, leaning closer and cupping a hand around her mouth to whisper it into his ear. Makoto glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and nodded. The rest of their walk home was rather subdued, as the team leader seemed very cowed by this news, despite his attempts to hide it. Sakura didn't blame him. She still remembered the first time she'd been fooled by a Henge to this day. It wasn't a wonderful feeling, that everyone you know might be a fake.

"Don't worry, we're here for you," she said in a meager attempt to comfort him.

Kakashi had woken up to see Tenzou passed out on his living room couch with a copy of _War and Peace_ open over his face. Oh, the life of a ninja. Sleep was often seized in random bursts throughout their endless days of danger. No doubt he'd had orders from Sayuri to monitor him until he woke up. Kakashi had simply sighed, put the book back in its place on the shelf, and left the apartment in silence. He really did feel perfectly normal again. Well, except for the wrenching pain in three of the fingers on his right hand when he'd put on a shirt upon waking up. It felt like they were broken, though he hadn't remembered breaking them on his mission.

Leaping through the streets, he let his senses open up as he searched for Sayuri. The sun was setting quickly, and there was a low pressure in the air that gave the dark clouds overhead a looming feeling.

Then it was there, just very slightly. The smell of her shampoo. Kakashi changed his course to follow it quickly, his eyes scanning the streets below. It wasn't far from her apartment that he spotted her, walking with someone. Makoto. Kakashi stopped, watching them from afar and feeling his insides grow cold. He couldn't exactly jump down and start talking to her now, so he just followed on the rooftops, staying out of sight as he tried to get within earshot. Finally he did, just as Makoto was asking her some question he didn't catch.

"I know you and Izumi don't really love each other," Sayuri said then, in such a quiet voice Kakashi thought he might have imagined it. He wished he had imagined that. Peering over the roof, he saw her leaning towards the idiot and whispering something in his ear. Kakashi felt a sudden searing pain in his hand, and realized he'd been trying to clench his fists. He was too far away to hear what she had whispered, good sense of hearing aside.

Kakashi could only imagine how Sayuri's sweet face looked as she was facing the other way, but he could see Makoto's face all too clearly. The man was giving her a sideways look, seeming disappointed about something. Kakashi wanted to chuck something at his stupid head - he was surprised to find himself growing increasingly protective of Sayuri.

He watched as the pair finally made it to their apartments, walking into the courtyard together. Makoto put a hand on her shoulder as he said something, a warm look on his face. Sayuri nodded, though her shoulders seemed to tense up just subtly under his touch. Well, she did love the man. Kakashi felt a sigh escape him then as she followed the dark-haired man towards his apartment now.

He tried to swallow his frustration, but found it stuck in his throat like hot tar. All he could think of was that damn Makoto, in that apartment alone with Sayuri. Would she enjoy being taken advantage of like that? Kakashi couldn't see any part of her that would appreciate being treated like a tissue - used once and then thrown away. Even if she did love him. It wasn't worth it.

Having convinced himself that he was doing it for her own good, Kakashi quickly flitted to the ground and walked after them as calmly as he could manage. When he caught sight of the back of her head following Makoto to a door, he called out.

"Sayuri!" She turned at the sound of her name, and when she saw his face she crossed her arms and cocked her hip in a sassy way.

"Oh Kakashi, I see you're feeling better," Sayuri drawled. There was a pitiless look flashing in the pools of her green eyes, but an elusive smile was tugging at the edges of her lips. That alone was enough to encourage Kakashi to continue.

"Ah, yeah, mostly," Kakashi said hesitantly. Makoto was watching on from his doormat as if bored, but Kakashi could see how carefully he was observing them. Kakashi wanted to say more, but the way that guy was looking at him - as if Kakashi's reasons for appearing just now were so obvious that it hurt - was highly distracting. Makoto fiddled with his keys a little, then looked to Sayuri decidedly.

"I'll see you inside," he said lazily, taking his time to wipe his feet on the mat before going inside. Sayuri nodded, glancing between the two with a thoughtful look on her face. Kakashi met her gaze with a flat look, and her eyes became a little tense. Still, she just remained silent. Her cheeks and nose had reddened slightly from being outside, and her warm breath hung before her in the chilled air. Slowly, the tense edges to her eyes softened as she watched him, though Kakashi was counting the seconds before her patience snapped. He figured he better not wait for that.

"There was something that you missed though," Kakashi said, holding out his bad hand to her. A subtle smirk quirked her lips up at the corners, and she took his broken fingers into her own nimble ones with a pitying click of her tongue off the roof of her mouth.

"Hm… How did you break these?" She asked.

"I don't know," Kakashi told her in honesty. That seemed to amuse her more, and her green eyes flashed up to him in silent laughter. An unnerving snake-like smile turned up her lips. Her fingers bent his just so all of a sudden, and pain lanced through his hand. Kakashi hissed through his teeth, making to pull his hand back but found her holding onto his broken fingers still quite tightly.

"Ah! What the -"

"You grabbed my butt in your sleep, you dog. So I broke your hand," Sayuri said with an air of superior amusement. Kakashi felt the blood rush to his cheeks. He wasn't surprised that had happened, but he was sorely disappointed he'd been unconscious at the time. To think of where this hand of his had been…

A hand hit him upside the head.

"You were awake, weren't you!" Sayuri hissed now, her cheeks flushed an even deeper red. "You almost crushed me, too! Bastard!" She hit him on the head again. It didn't hurt, but Kakashi cringed away nonetheless, even as she still held his broken fingers with one hand.

"Ah, no! I wasn't! I didn't do it on purpose!" Kakashi said, unable to hold a little laughter from coming out as she smacked him on the head again. Okay, she was getting a little over-eager with the hitting now. Sayuri's lips tweaked in amusement as well, though she fought it valiantly. "Please, have mercy!" Kakashi milked it, and was rewarded with an un-ladylike snort that dissolved into laughter. Her pink lips parted over her white teeth, which Kakashi noticed now were actually quite nice.

"So are you going to heal it for me?" He asked. Sayuri's eyebrows twitched up at that, and she looked down at the hand spoken of. She let it go now as if only just realizing she'd been holding it.

"Nope," she said simply. Kakashi blinked.

"But that's not fair. I didn't mean to offend you," he said, dropping his injured hand to his side lamely. Sayuri's eyebrows furrowed suddenly that, and a frown chased away her previous smile.

"Oh, it's not _fair_ is it? You know what's not fair?" Sayuri said heatedly, her voice increasing in intensity even though she spoke lowly. "After not so much as a hello for two weeks, you expect me to help you out, so you go and re-open your shoulder and lose so much blood that I have to spend half an hour cleaning it up! Anyone could have walked in and my cover would have been _blown_. Then I was late returning from my 'lunch' break because you couldn't even lay in a damn bed unconscious properly! On top of that, I was groped and stalked home when all I wanted to do was help you!" Kakashi found himself backing away as she stepped forward in her passion, jabbing him in the chest repeatedly with a finger. Eventually he was pressed up against a wall and could only quirk his brows together in an apologetic expression as she went on.

"I was on a mission," Kakashi said languidly to her first comment. She actually was in the right about the rest of it though. He chose not to admit that as he watched Sayuri flex and unflex her fists in a way that might have been threatening - if she wasn't a good head shorter than him. She seemed to be somewhat appeased by that excuse, but anger still coursed through her eyes. Kakashi just remained silent, finding the subtle changes in her expression as her thoughts moved through her head to be quite interesting.

"You could have told me," she said finally with a sigh. Her expression settled to one with a frustrated mouth and sad eyes.

"Actually, I couldn't have," Kakashi corrected her quietly. She should know well enough the confidentiality required on many missions. Actually, he probably shouldn't have told her he'd been on one in the first place, but that was neither here nor there now. He put his hands in his pockets as gingerly as he could, but pain still lanced through his broken one as he moved it. Sayuri's eyes seemed to mirror that pain and she reached for his hand.

"Let me fix that," she said, sounding a little sheepish. Kakashi smirked under his mask but let her have his hand again. This time she was so gentle he hardly could tell what was holding his hand up, and the soft glow of her healing chakra reflected off her large eyes as she concentrated. Though he wasn't fading in and out of blood loss exhaustion now, this moment still reminded him of being in the hospital with her. It wasn't just that she was healing him, it was the tender care she put into it. Kakashi felt warmer with her there.

After a good while, she finished, giving his fingers a few experimental tugs. It felt good in a strange way for her to pull on them like that, though that might have been just in comparison to the pain of a few moments ago. Sayuri smirked and turned around.

"Want a test run?" She asked as she bent over a bit, so amused that the corners of her eyes crinkled into crow's feet. Kakashi felt his whole body freeze and his eyes widen in surprise. His hand hung in the air where she had left it, halfway between his pocket and her bottom. She had to be joking… Still, he felt his breath come a little more quickly as he considered her offering. It really was quite a nice bottom, obscured as it was by her shapeless outfit.

Sayuri broke out into laughter then, turning around and giving him another smack on the head with her hand. He wondered what she'd seen in his expression. Kakashi breathed a shuddering breath and let out a couple of nervous laughs, cramming his hand into his pocket quickly. As if it was just a good joke - as if he wasn't even considering it. Of course not. Never.

"Idiot," she said affectionately, her eyes still crinkled at the corners. Kakashi responded in kind, smiling widely and hoping the guilt didn't translate through his mask. Still, he wasn't sure what had brought that on. There was a new warmth to her eyes, and when she looked at him like that he found he couldn't stop his own smile. They were standing quite close now due to her compulsion to smack him on the head so much tonight, and her green eyes shone steadily in the dim light. The blush on her cheeks was excruciatingly adorable, and as the smile faded slowly on her face, her lips stayed just slightly parted. If this were just some girl he'd met in Konoha, he would have kissed her then.

Sadly, this wasn't just some girl. This was Sayuri, strong and temperamental and completely in love with another man just a few yards away. On top of that, sooner before later, she would be gone. Back to the land of the never-ending stretches of sun and sand that she called home. Kakashi wasn't much the kind of person to kiss a girl and forget her so easily the next day, and already he could feel himself growing attached to this green eyed wonder. He'd thought it was too soon after Rin, but now he felt like as soon as he could hold Sayuri in his arms was not soon enough. Still, who was he to compete with Makoto? Kakashi's thoughts turned bitter then.

Something seemed to be occurring to Sayuri as well, as her lips went from parted to pursed. Kakashi cleared his throat, and she blinked as if woken from an involved thought.

"Well, I should be going," she said as a matter of fact, though her eyes glanced at him furtively. It was all he could do to keep his hands in his pockets as a stray piece of hair fell over her face.

"Ah," Kakashi said, helplessly watching her walk towards Makoto's apartment with the feeling he was letting a kitten walk into the jaws of a hungry lion. Before she opened the door, she remembered something and turned.

"I think I'll have time for a training session sometime tomorrow," she said. "You can just meet me at my apartment," she added more flatly. Kakashi wasn't sure why there was a problem in having figured out where she lived, but he didn't bring it up.

"Alright, see ya," he said with a small wave before jumping up onto the roof. From there he watched her enter Makoto's house without so much as knocking, and after that he had to force his feet to take the steps back to his own apartment. It wouldn't do much good to try and stop her now.

Sakura was surprised as she stepped into Makoto's warm apartment to realize how cold it had been outside. She hadn't noticed. Makoto was leafing through a magazine at the kitchen table when she came in.

"So that was Kakashi," he drawled without looking up at her.

"Yeah," she said noncommittally.

"How's that going?" he asked.

"Just fine," Sakura said, making herself at home as she helped herself to one of the muffins on a large plate. That was what he had invited her in for in the first place. She did want to talk to Ino too, but knew that she couldn't say everything she wanted with Makoto around anyways.

"Any leads?" Makoto said as he paused on a page with more text than pictures, chewing a thumb nail. She had to hold back her temptation to slap his hand away. It was a habit that particularly annoyed her. Probably because Naruto did it.

"No," she said. Apparently her disdain with that fact bled into her voice, because he looked up. There was a long moment as he looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face, then he sighed.

"Don't worry about it. We can't expect anything too soon anyways. I got us here a bit early for acclimation and all that anyways. Denna doesn't start really showing his cards until a little while more," he obliged. Sakura took a bite out of the muffin.

"Hey, this is pretty good," she said through a mouthful. "I'll take some more for Haruhi." Sakura grabbed five more muffins, which Makoto simply raised an eyebrow at. He had made too many anyways, so he simply waved goodbye to her as she walked back out into the cold.

By the time she reached her own apartment, she had finished the first muffin and started on a second one. Only upon eating one had she realized how hungry she was.

"I'm home," she called out, throwing her keys into the bowl by the door as she walked into the empty house. _That's odd,_ she thought. She was sure she had seen Hinata get off a little before Sakura today. Then she saw the note on the refrigerator.

_Sayuri,_

_The hospital asked if I would like to go on an overnight training expedition with my teacher. I accepted. We should be gone for only a couple of days. _

_There is some Mochi ice cream I didn't finish in the freezer if you would like it. I also brought some of Makoto's muffins home for you. They are blueberry and blackberry._

_- Haruhi_

Sakura looked over to the counter to see that Hinata had brought home four muffins as well. With an amused snort, she added her own to the pile - doubling it. She immediately fished out the Mochi balls and headed for her the sofa with Icha Icha. The night was looking up.

It was only shortly after that there was a knock on the door. Then she remembered her promise to Ino that morning, when they had scrubbed Kakashi's blood off the floor. Now it made sense that no bird had come with a warning for her.

"Mochi ice cream!" Ino squealed when Sakura opened the door for her.

"Help yourself," Sakura chortled as Ino had already walked away with the whole bag, kicking her shoes off in the vague direction of the shoe rack.

"You know, I think this is the best mission I've ever been on," Ino said as she lounged on Sakura's couch.

"Really?" Sakura pulled her eyebrows together at that.

"Yeah, think about it. Our jobs are easy, and even when we do find out whatever we have to, we're only supposed to pass it on. Meanwhile, we get to hang out in Konoha. Plus Makoto pretty much does all the housework and is a really good cook," Ino said as she was stuffing Mochi after Mochi in her mouth.

"You don't find it infuriating to have to act dumb?" Sakura said, but as soon as she asked it she realized she already knew the answer. Ino looked over at her with a snort.

"Forehead, only you would be upset about an easy mission," Ino monotoned with a roll of her eyes. "So, Haruhi said she saw you healing Kakashi and then sending him back out the window today. What's that all about?"

"Well, you know… Makoto thinks I should use my friendship with him to listen in. Kakashi hates being checked into hospitals, so I was helping him," Sakura said, taking a Mochi ball for herself.

"Yeah, but that was a ton of blood. We're not supposed to be at that level of healing yet," Ino said.

"Kakashi sort of knows I'm a pretty good medic," Sakura confessed. Ino chewed thoughtfully for a moment.

"What's the cover story then?" She asked.

"I said that I came here to follow Makoto, because I secretly love him," Sakura said, laughing a little sheepishly. It sounded stupid underneath Ino's speculative gaze. Ino laughed too.

"That's the shittiest story ever," Ino said loudly. Sakura smacked her friend on the arm.

"It is not! I saved my own ass that day. He figured out that I had too good of abilities, and I had to improvise. It's because of my quick thinking that I'm not being interrogated right now," Sakura said with a pout.

"Well how did he figure out in the first place?" Ino asked. The conversation was quickly going in a direction Sakura did not want, but there wasn't a way out of it now.

"I healed him one time… He was unconscious, but he figured out it was me," Sakura said, admonished now. Ino's eyes widened in shock.

"Wait - you healed him? Seriously? Why?" She said critically. The bag of Mochi ice cream balls was forgotten in her grip momentarily and a couple toppled into Ino's lap. Sakura struggled to keep a straight face.

"I don't know… I felt bad for him. He had some internal bleeding Rouri didn't even try to fix," Sakura said lackadaisically. Even still, Ino saw right through her. She put a gripping hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"Do you _like_ Kakashi?" Ino hissed.

"No," Sakura tried to sound mortified, but Ino still heard her guilt. For all her good acting undercover, it was hard to lie to her friend. Ino looked at her steadily for only a moment, then she sighed and chuckled.

"I can't believe you. Well, I can, because it's not hard to see why you like him. Really not. I mean, those arms… Sorry, don't look at me like that! Have you told Makoto? You know how he is about butterflies. This sounds like a really big one, too. I mean, Kakashi has got to be the Mothra of all butterflies to kill," Ino had gone back to stuffing her face with Mochi, starting with the ones off of her lap.

"No, and you better not tell him either," Sakura said. "I have it under control."

"Oh, I'm sure you do," Ino said suggestively. Sakura punched her arm lightly when she waggled her eyebrows.

"OW! Okay, okay… I don't need anymore bruises, Forehead," Ino said curtly. There was a moment of silence then as Sakura begged to differ, but just crossed her arms. "What about him? Does he like you back?"

She thought of the way Kakashi had looked when she had healed his hand, and if that wasn't caring than Sakura didn't know what was. For whatever reason, he liked the brown-haired medic from Suna. Maybe more than he should. Sakura knew that if that was true, there was no way they could safely be friends. The continuum of time and space was apparently at risk if she made a move for him. Even if it wasn't going to create some major change in history, she would only be hurting Kakashi by getting close now. He would fall in love with Sayuri, only to have her vanish completely one day.

"I think so… I'm not sure in what way though," Sakura said softly. Ino put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder, showing a rare and probably momentary depth of understanding.

"Just do what they always say, little Sayu. Follow your heart, or whatever," Ino said with a cheesy smile. Sakura scoffed.

"Does space-time continuum destruction ring any bells for you?" Sakura said.

"Don't be so vain. Is the whole world going to end just because you give young Kakashi a little smooch? I'm sure he's had his fair share of women in his life. You could just be one of them," Ino said with amusement. Sakura couldn't help a little smile, but Ino's reassuring fell short. Sakura knew better. All it took was the wrong butterfly stepped on, and everything changed. She'd heard the story in enough science fiction to understand it.

"Yeah, maybe," Sakura allowed. Ino seemed pleased with herself, and so they dropped the subject.

The next day, Sakura made sure to rise extra early. She showered and dressed in her best dark grey leggings with a black skirt that went over it and a top that was breathable and a pale green. Today she hardly even missed her old outfit, so relieved as she was just to have comfortable clothes that suited her. The light of day was grey like the clouds overhead, and the brisk air chased away any remnants of sleep.

When she reached the Hokage tower, Kaede was waiting on the steps. She looked much more personable out of her medic outfit, and Sakura smiled at her. Kaede returned it with some sincerity for once. The two climbed their way up to the Hokage's office in a comfortable silence.

"Ah, Kaede, you're early," the third Hokage said appreciatively as they were lead into his office. He gave a slight nod to Sakura, and she returned it.

"No better way to start the day," she said.

The Hokage went on to explain the mission. Kaede was to return to a village called Touna that she had recently visited for health care to follow up on some vaccinations and long-term treatments there. It was part of the town leader's new health imperative to bring in medics from outside to improve the health of the impoverished people there. When the war ended, so did the demand for a trade route in their area, so the town had suffered economically. However, Konoha still had many debts to them for their help with supplies during the war, so they repaid them mostly with work.

"It is a fairly low risk mission due to the fact that few people care to try and steal from the poor, but I will be sending an ANBU guard with you. There have been recent reports of an increase in criminals passing through that area, so while we can't see any reason they would target you, we are staying cautious," the third Hokage said, his hands folded on his desk. Sakura nodded, trying to look a little nervous but utterly not on the inside. This mission would be a cake walk. In fact, she looked forward to the chance to be close to an ANBU member and maybe pick up some sort of lead about Denna. The idea of being useful for once thrilled her.

"Who else is on the mission?" Kaede asked preemptively.

"Kurenai Yuhi and Itsuko Sunaha. You will be team leader, though the ANBU guard follows my orders alone, naturally. Sayuri, I expect you to listen to Kaede and help her as much as your skills allow," he said, looking at her for the first time.

"Yes, sir," Sakura said when a brief pause followed his words. She gave a respectful nod and averted her eyes when the Hokage seemed to consider her closely for a moment.

"You may also have the rest of the week off. The mission meets this Saturday at the front gate at sunrise. Pack for a light three day journey. It should be comfortable, as the route is well-populated and peaceful."

At that, the Hokage waved them off, and the girls left the room silently. Sakura almost wished it was a little less easy. She hadn't become a kunoichi in search of peace and comfort, after all.

"Enjoy your days of rest," Kaede said as Sakura turned to go. "I'll see you at the gate."

"Thanks Kaede! I'll see you then." She waved to her teacher before picking up a slight jog home. Sakura couldn't help it. With a mission in sight, she was feeling lighter on her feet. Even if this Konoha wasn't _her_ Konoha exactly, she still felt good to be putting her skills to some use. All of the waiting and 'learning' she'd been doing had built up in an infuriating way.

At home, Sakura loitered around the house. With both her and Hinata being so scrupulous, there wasn't much to clean. There was little to do other than wait, as she knew Kakashi would be coming by to train her today. She sat on the couch in a forced way, smoothing her skirt until it was perfectly flat over her legs. Then she folded little creases all along it diligently, only to smooth it out again. The mindless motions were only feeding her growing anxiety, so she let herself pace.

Hours passed, and she wondered why she'd thought this Kakashi would be any more prompt of the one she knew. With a frustrated huff, she walked into the bedroom and flopped onto her bed. Free to do as it wished, her mind wandered to last night. She thought of the blush she'd brought to his cheeks when she'd told him he'd groped her.

It didn't help matters that the fact that he had blushed at the thought had pleased her. She still saw that intense gaze of his looking into her every time she closed her eyes. Her mind showed her clearly enough what she wanted as it imagined all the possible scenarios that could have played out last night. Maybe she would have pressed him against the wall playfully, or maybe he would have grazed her face with his fingertips again. Maybe she wouldn't have woken alone this morning.

Sakura shot into an upright position abruptly, holding her head in her hands with a low moan. This was bad. She could hardly fight the feelings that were growing towards him. When he'd been out of town, she had been able to push them aside for the most part - out of sight, out of mind. Now he was back as usual, and her feelings only seemed to have tripled.

"The fluffy one's coming on light feet," a voice said suddenly from her windowsill. Sakura jumped in surprise, even though she immediately recognized Gio's sing-song speech. She blinked at him once, nodded and quickly shooed him away. It was clear enough to her who the fluffy one was.

For a long while, she sat on her bed. She knew if she stood up, she would only pace and he would hear that. So she just waited. Eventually there was a knock on the door. Anticipation coiled so tightly in her abdomen that for a moment she felt nauseous. She forced herself to walk languidly to the door, opening it as if she hadn't been waiting for his knock on baited breath. All her apprehension melted into warmth when she saw him there, his hands behind his back and a guarded smile visible in his eyes. He was so simply Kakashi, nothing more and nothing less. Relief flooded through her.

"Kakashi, come in," she said automatically with a smile. He didn't hesitate as he walked in, looking around in his subtle way. There was no dramatic or lengthy pause as he studied the room, just a quick glance. Sakura knew it for what it was though. The copy ninja catalogued things with great speed. It was his namesake, after all.

"Would you like a muffin?" She asked, gesturing to the haphazard pile.

"Oh, did you make them?" He asked evasively. Sakura knew better than to think that would get her a glimpse of his face, but she had hoped in vain.

"No, Makoto did," she said. There was a moment's pause, and Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Uh, no thank you," he said. Sakura smirked, but underneath it wondered just what was fueling Kakashi's subtle animosity towards Makoto anyways. She had seen it last night in the hard way he had eyed her team leader. To his credit, Makoto had not quailed under such an intimidating gaze. Then again, maybe he didn't know Kakashi's reputation.

"Suit yourself. They're delicious," she said with a shrug, grabbing a blackberry muffin and taking a bite herself. There was a searching look in Kakashi's eyes as he watched her eat it, and Sakura wished she could manage to take smaller bites for once in her life. She furrowed her brow in response to Kakashi's inspection of her, and he seemed to take the hint, looking away.

"I'll just get my bag and we can go," Sakura said, waltzing into her room to grab the small backpack off of her bed that held a day's supply of water and snacks. She threw a couple of muffins in.

Soon enough they were off, walking towards the gates of Konoha at a leisurely pace. Kakashi seemed quiet today, but Sakura caught him looking at her several times as they went, so it wasn't like he was ignoring her.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Sakura asked, her hands holding onto the straps of her backpack as she looked up at him.

"Sure," Kakashi said, holding out his hand. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's a phrase of speech," she said petulantly. Kakashi shrugged and withdrew his hand, but said nothing. Sakura rolled her eyes. He would decide to take it literally because it was useful that way to him. She was sure even if she'd had a penny on her he would have only answered evasively in return.

"Aren't you even a bit excited to finally read Icha Icha?" Sakura tried again. He had been more than playful with her before, but now something about him seemed almost… sulky.

"Of course," he said as he waved to the guard lazily that stood at the large front gates. The forests outside were cold and quiet, as the same heavy dark clouds from yesterday loomed. It must have rained some overnight, because many things seemed dark with a dampness more substantial than morning dew.

As they walked, they talked sparsely, and despite the fact that it was mid-day, Sakura shivered. She should have worn another shirt. There was no doubt she would warm up once they started training, but she wasn't sure when that would be. Kakashi seemed to have no direction in where he was leading her, and hardly seemed to care. Whatever it was that he was moping about, Sakura was going to punch it out of him if he didn't cut it out soon.

After a particularly obvious shiver she'd had trouble suppressing, Kakashi stopped.

"Are you cold?" He asked while turning to her.

"Well, yeah," Sakura responded, wishing she could have thought of a better answer than the truth. Kakashi twisted his pack around onto his side for a moment, fishing through it. Out came a long-sleeve black shirt. He handed it to her.

"Here, wear this," Kakashi said, his gaze looking especially dark in the bleak lighting. Sakura blinked, but took off her backpack to put it on. She slipped it right over her other shirt to find it was very large for her, and that it had a turtle-neck. The longer neck stayed wrapped around her face, and she struggled to get her hands through the sleeves to pull it down. Sakura laughed at how dumb she felt. So much for being the successor of the fearsome Tsunade. Even while struggling, she could still notice the sudden closeness and strength of his smell on the shirt. It made her feel dizzy, which didn't help matters.

"You look lost," Kakashi said with a chuckle. Sakura stood a bit stiller, as he sounded much closer than before. She managed to finally get her hands out with some work. Then she felt his fingers grab the opening of the neck and pull it down around her face. Sakura blinked at the sudden light, though it was obscured by the hair stuck over her face. Kakashi beat her to it, smoothing her hair away from her face with all the care in the world. His hands were very warm, and she looked up to see he had an amused crinkle to his eyes.

There he was again, so close and gentle and warm. His gaze seemed to hold hers with some irresistible force, and Sakura felt her inner beast purr with anticipation. It would only take one step to press against his chest and for her lips to find a spot on his neck - masked or not hardly mattered to her now. The need to draw closer to him was raw in her, but this time it only angered her. It was something she could never act on. Kakashi was Mothra. Still, it certainly didn't help when he looked at her like that.

"Thanks," Sakura said as she abruptly turned away to pick up her backpack. When she turned back, Kakashi's face had lost its brooding look. He considered her in his overly large shirt, with the sleeves rolled up and the turtle-neck collar crumpled under her jaw line, and he smiled. Of course, now she didn't feel cold in the slightest. Heat rushed through her limbs, and she felt all too conscious of the presence of walking beside her now as they continued on.

The training content itself was rather easy and boring, but Sakura found herself still managing to enjoy it. She tried to learn at an average rate, yet he continued to compliment her on how quickly she was picking things up. She really didn't want to have the conversation they would if he realized she'd been taught by someone else before, as that was likely to get confusing fast. The most difficult part was pretending that she was struggling with her chakra control.

"There you go," Kakashi said in a bored monotone that Sakura knew to be his trying-to-encourage voice. She was nearly twenty steps up the side of the tree, letting her anxiety about being discovered show in hopes that it would translate into anxiety about falling. Her chakra jumped to the challenge like a dog that had been kept inside for too long, and Sakura was finding this ridiculously easy. Still, when she caught sight of a black owl moving swiftly through the treetops, the shock that shot through her made her grip falter. Her feet skidded on the bark a little.

"Just stay steady. It helps if you focus on just one thing," he called out. Either he hadn't seen the owl, or he had figured it wasn't suspicious. It really wasn't, considering the quickly approaching night that had already made it very dark under the trees, but Naka was usually not so bold. Sakura often found it impossible to find her, even in the middle of the day. A low, long hoot confirmed her fears. Someone was approaching, quickly. The single hoot signaled that it was someone familiar.

Sakura let out a sudden yelp and purposely cut off her chakra hold on the tree. As she felt herself begin to fall, a gasp escaped her lips at the strange sensation of helplessly hurtling down. This was going to hurt. She could have easily landed with grace, but Kakashi had thought it would be smart to teach her to climb up before teaching her how to properly land. With anyone else she might have done it anyways, but the copy ninja was highly perceptive. The slightest unusual skill would set off his suspicion. She had already faced that once. So she prepared for the impact mentally only.

Of course, she hadn't been prepared for Kakashi to catch her. He cushioned her blow with his arms, skillfully bending his knees to break the fall further. Even still, Sakura crashed onto his arms and chest in an ungainly way.

"Whoops," Kakashi understated as he shifted his arms to hold her more comfortably. She let out a harsh chuckle at that, still feeling slightly winded and definitely bruised. "Well, you were doing quite well for a while."

"I… thought I saw something up there," Sakura said defensively. Kakashi was holding her so close that she didn't have to work to make an embarrassed blush rise to her cheeks. She could have sworn she saw the subtle silhouette of a smirk under his mask, too.

All day she had been careful to require no need for close contact, learning the correct posture from his words alone. Since he'd helped her with his shirt, Sakura could tell he was just waiting for any excuse to touch her. It would have been amusing to see Kakashi like this, normally so flippant and uninterested, if it weren't so frustrating for Sakura. Being close to him and knowing he wanted it too, her desire came close to physical agony, as she knew it was something she couldn't act on.

"It was probably a bird or a squirrel," Kakashi replied, seeming confused as to why that had scared her. Apparently he hadn't seen the large owl. Naka was better than Sakura realized. Hearing something she couldn't, Kakashi stiffened. His grip around her torso and legs tightened, which was a little too pleasant. Heat coiled within her.

"Someone's coming," he warned in a low voice.

"So?" Sakura said flippantly. She tried to weasel out of his grip, but he seemed to be unaware of her attempts. Or pretending to be unaware. There was a subtle emotion in the tweak of his visible eye that told her it was probably the latter. Wiggling against him wasn't helping to tame her inner beast, either.

"So, we're a little outside of Konoha," Kakashi replied simply, and when he looked down at her she looked into both eyes - one a deep, swirling red. Sakura felt herself clench her jaw reflexively. Seeing it from his perspective, it made sense. Here he was, training some girl from Suna who might have learned a little too quickly but was still entirely under-skilled, being approached by another shinobi outside of Konoha's gates and guards. Of course he would be nervous about that situation. Probably upwind, too.

"Don't worry," he said very lowly into her ear, obviously misinterpreting her tension as some sort of fear. In reality, it was more due to how close he held her to him now as his eyes watched for the approaching person.

"Oh, it's Rouri," Kakashi said in a relaxed tone. "I never noticed before, but she sure has a lot of chakra in her head…" Sakura blinked at that, then let out a nervous laugh. She knew Rouri must be in range of his thoughts by now if he could see her.

"Can you let me down now?" She asked, practically through her teeth. Kakashi did so without comment, very slowly. Sakura felt one hand graze up the backs of her thighs and up under her skirt _accidentally_ as he let her down, and something in her snapped.

Turning, she leaned back just slightly to lift her leg up and kicked him in the side. Hard. It was a variation on a move he had taught her today, but with much more speed and weight behind it. She didn't care how quick of a learner he thought she was in that moment. Kakashi let out a grunt and staggered sideways a couple of steps, looking over with an exasperated look. If she wasn't pissed as all get out, she would have laughed.

"Do I need to break your other hand, too?" She ground out, her hands clenched into fists. Kakashi's eye widened, and he coughed nervously, rubbing his side. Seeing the fear in his face alone felt good. It had been a long time since she'd induced fear in anyone. It was difficult without a good ground-splintering punch to back it up.

"Sayuri, hey!" Rouri called out as she spotted her, and Sakura could tell the mind-reader was having a hard time holding back the laughter from what she had just seen happen through Kakashi's mind.

"Evening, Rouri," Sakura called back in cheerful sing-song, sharing a knowing grin with the smaller medic. "What are you up to?" Rouri had pinned her long red-brown hair up in a bun, and wore a long nondescript coat with a rather hideous blue-green scarf tucked around the collar.

"Just walking around, really. I love the woods at night," Rouri said sheepishly. Sakura returned a small smile. That was not a very good excuse. Kakashi seemed to have the same thought, as she went on. "Also, I forgot a book I had borrowed from the library out here on a hike one day. I have late fees like nobody's business, and it's supposed to snow soon, so I need to find it…" Sakura laughed at that, putting a hand on her hip.

"What're you two up to?" Rouri asked in return, and Sakura didn't miss the subtle innuendo as her eyes darted to Kakashi and back to herself, wearing his shirt. He was looking bored as usual, but his eyes watched Rouri with a subtle suspicion to them. She could tell he still wasn't so convinced Rouri was out here to find a library book, but apparently Rouri wasn't worried about that. She was the one who could hear his thoughts, after all.

"He's teaching me a couple of things. Some of them are pretty useful, actually," Sakura said, spite coloring her tone. Kakashi seemed to cringe a little and become extremely interested in the lining of one of his gloves. There was a moment of pause, and then Rouri let out a charming peel of laughter, clutching her stomach as her cherubic face pinked with amusement.

"Alright, well don't let me hold you up," Rouri said as she wiped a tear from her eye. Sakura smirked but quirked her brow in slight worry, not exactly ready to face Kakashi alone again, in the twilight… Though inner Sakura was pleased at the thought. "I'll see you around, okay Sayuri? We _have_ to hang out again." She waved as she walked off, and Sakura recognized that tone from Ino. As in, Rouri was going to be preparing a questionnaire about Kakashi to grill her with on a later date. Sakura sighed lowly.

"We should be getting back. It is a bit late," Kakashi said then. Sakura nodded and grabbed her things all too eagerly, following him as he picked up a quicker pace. It was still a bit too slow for her, but she tried not to follow him too closely as they moved through the trees.

When they got back to her apartments, she waved him goodbye.

"I think you've forgotten our deal," he said lazily.

"Oh," Sakura said, remembering Icha Icha was still in her bedroom. "I'll go get the book." She jogged off, hoping he would just wait here, but he didn't. He followed her easily, without a sound.

Sakura made sure she beat him to where the book was. She tore out a couple of the first pages as well as the last page since they all had publishing dates on them. In one hand she held the crumpled pages, and she held out the book to him with the other. Kakashi took the book hesitantly, looking it over quickly before looking back up at her, like a dog who had realized that the food bowl it had been given had carrots and peas in it.

"What'd you tear those pages out for?"

"Uh, don't worry, it's just the page of index and stuff," Sakura said lamely. He took a step closer, looking slightly intrigued by her attempt to hide the pages behind her back.

"You know I can get them from you if I want," Kakashi said confidently, stepping even closer. Sakura just glared at him, stepping backwards as he stalked her slowly until the backs of her legs hit her bed. Her large, soft bed, in her big, empty apartment. She swallowed nervously.

"You don't really need these pages. I swear all of the real content is there," Sakura said uneasily. Part of her wanted to rise to his challenge, but she knew that was what he wanted. Some excuse to tackle her onto the bed. That would not be good. He watched her steadily for a moment, his eyes roaming her face. She wondered what her expression showed. Sakura was doing her best to brush the issue off, but her heart was hammering in her throat at his proximity. For a fleeting moment, she considered throwing the damn time-space continuum out the window. If it meant there was no such thing as butterflies in the future, so be it.

Then Kakashi stiffened suddenly.

"Okay, well, thanks," he said suddenly. In a blur, he clambered out the open window and was gone. Sakura blinked in stupor, watching the curtains billow gently in his absence. Slowly, she went over to the window. Sure enough, Hinata was walking up through the courtyard. Based on her easy pace and unworried look to her, Sakura felt it was safe to say she hadn't seen Kakashi. Whatever reason he'd had for not wanting her roommate to find him here, she was thankful to it.

Before Hinata got there, Sakura closed her door, turned off her lights, and clambered into bed. She didn't even bother to change out of her clothes, just curled up into her bed with an exhausted sigh. She didn't have it in her to face Hinata just then, whose caring eyes saw much more than they should. It would be much easier to talk about her day with Kakashi impassively after a good night's sleep.

As she shifted a pillow underneath her just so, Sakura realized she was still wearing Kakashi's shirt. It wasn't like him to forget something that was his, so he probably hadn't asked for it back on purpose. Did he think her needing of a warmer wardrobe? Sakura chuckled lowly to herself, but pulled the neckline of the shirt up over her nose nonetheless. Breathing in the smell of him tainted only by the soft scent of laundry detergent, Sakura slept more deeply than she had since beginning this mission.

* * *

_AN: Can you guess who the ANBU guard will be for her mission? I know, it's a pretty tricky one. XD_


	8. Into the Woods

**The Circle**

Chapter 8: Into the Woods

* * *

The next day began nice and slow. Sakura dug some things out of the refrigerator and had breakfast cooking when Hinata woke up. The dark-haired kunoichi smiled warmly at her.

"I hope you didn't get too lonely with me gone," she said sleepily as she took a seat at the bar-like counter that separated the kitchen from the living room.

"Nah, I trained with Kakashi most of the day anyways," Sakura said as she flipped a pancake a little sloppily. Batter smattered over the edge of the pan and the flames underneath roared sporadically. She was no natural at these domestic things, but that didn't mean she couldn't do them.

"Oh, how did that go?" Hinata asked politely.

"It was pretty weird. Nothing bad though, I guess," she said honestly as she ate a piece of the misshapen pancake right off the pan.

"Has he mentioned anything?" Hinata asked, and Sakura knew what she meant. About anything that could be a lead towards how Denna might be infiltrating the ANBU.

"Of course not. You know he's never been one to let things slip out around the edges. I don't see why Makoto thinks that following Kakashi is somehow going to give us a clue… but I can't question his _abilities_," Sakura scoffed. Hinata looked thoughtful.

"It must be so odd to be around him. Is he different now? Oh, thank you Sayuri," Hinata said as Sakura put a plate of pancakes in front of her.

"He definitely is. I think only because I knew him so well can I tell the difference though. He's a little more emotional, and a little worse at lying. It's like there's a couple layers of his façade missing. I kind of like him better this way, though. For once I feel like we're close to being… equal," Sakura said as she neatly criss-crossed the syrup over her pancakes for optimum flavor. It reminded her of how she'd always given Naruto a hard time when he made a lake of syrup on his. That made her a little nostalgic, so she didn't realize how closely Hinata was looking at her until she glanced up to see scrutiny on her face.

"That's interesting," she said with sudden innocence. "I wonder what made him change." Sakura shrugged, knowing full well that Kakashi's personality wasn't what Hinata was wondering about. Sakura had gotten a bit carried away in talking about him. If Ino could figure it out, so could Hinata. At least the girl had a bit more tact than to blatantly prod her for some confession of feelings.

Shortly after breakfast, Hinata headed out for the hospital. Sakura was the only one getting a little break due to her upcoming mission, as if shadowing was such hard work in the first place. Still, she did appreciate a break from faking ignorance. Humming lowly to herself, Sakura washed the dishes meticulously as she pleased.

Once done, she went to get dressed only to find most of the good things were dirty. Actually, even most of the bad things were dirty too. With a sigh, she threw on the best thing she could find, which was a boxy white dress from her Suna collection. It was quite thin and felt like it would blow up over her head if someone so much as sighed in her direction, but it would have to do. For warmth, she put Kakashi's large shirt over it. Only a small amount of the dress peeked out underneath. Then she slung her large laundry bag over her shoulder and headed out, scolding herself for letting it get this behind.

With no one really watching her, Sakura pushed some chakra into her muscles. Carrying the heaping bag suddenly became quite easy, and she strolled down the street happily. Overnight it had snowed, as Rouri had predicted. Most streets already had a packed down path of dirty snow, but the cold air still bit at her bare legs. At least Kakashi's shirt kept her top half fairly warm. That's where the important bits were anyways.

Laundry proved to be no more exciting than it was ten years in the future, and Sakura found herself wishing she hadn't given Kakashi her book. It really was the only copy in the whole world right now, and she was only halfway through it. As she waited for her clothes to finish, Sakura slumped into one of many terrible plastic chairs against the wall and closed her eyes. The gentle sounds of the Laundromat were soothing.

She didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until she woke up, and she didn't realize why she'd woken up until she opened her eyes and saw Kakashi standing there, looking over that book in such a way that she half-wondered if she'd slept for a decade. It certainly felt that way as she cracked her stiff shoulders.

"Rough night?" Kakashi asked suggestively. He seemed oblivious to the fact that she was still wearing his shirt.

"Actually, no. Laundromats always make me sleepy," Sakura said, stretching out in her seat pleasurably.

"Hm," Kakashi said.

Walking over to check her laundry, Sakura found she must have been asleep for ten minutes tops. Not much had happened. It wasn't even ready for the dryer yet. With a groan, she went and sat back down in the same chair.

"How far are you?" She asked when she saw he hadn't moved an inch. Kakashi turned the book sideways to show her. He had it open at about the halfway mark.

"Can't you even savor it? At this rate you'll be done by tomorrow," Sakura laughed, leaning her head back onto the wall again.

"Well, there's got to be more where this came from," Kakashi mused, walking over to sit beside her. She didn't bother letting herself think about why he did that. It was warm and quiet in the Laundromat. A good place to read. He didn't need any better reasons than that.

"Maybe," Sakura said with a tired sigh. _Five or so years in the future,_ she thought amusedly. Sleep was already tugging heavily at her eyelids again, so she closed them. For a long time Kakashi just sat there, practically silent aside from the occasional page turn. Unlike with a lot of people, Sakura never felt the need to constantly entertain them with conversation. Sure, when she'd first met him, she'd thought it was necessary. Kakashi had eventually taught her the value of a comfortable silence, even though he was practically the only person she'd ever been able to enjoy it with.

Just as Sakura was nodding off, Kakashi took a deep breath and shifted in his chair slightly. He had moved his leg, and now it rested against hers in the casual way legs sometimes touch between people sitting next to each other. Problem was, a ninja never did anything on accident. She pretended not to notice, despite how conscious she was of the soft material of his pants against her bare thigh. She was too close to unconsciousness to be able to muster up any frustration with it. Instead she just appreciated the slow warmth that seeped into her from him there as she drifted to sleep.

Sayuri's breathing grew heavier as she drifted to sleep. Kakashi was actually quite impressed with her ability to pass out on the fly like that. Her mouth hung open in a rather brutish way, and a glob of drool was already collecting at the corner of her mouth. More and more he was growing to admire her franker traits. The demure look she often adopted in her day-to-day life was mask-like, and Kakashi knew a thing or two about masks.

As he turned the page of his book, Sayuri sighed and her head flopped onto his shoulder. His fingers froze where they held the page. He could feel her breath hot on his neck. Kakashi could not ignore how much that pleased him. While gravity might have decided it was the best place for it, she probably would not have. Even though he had not smelled Makoto on her the morning after she'd been to his apartment, there was still a measured distance she kept between them. Any time he had corrected her kunai throw or otherwise gotten too close, he could tell it upset her. Kakashi sighed lightly. He was foolish to hope, and knew he should end these feelings before they got him in trouble, but found himself again and again drawn to her.

With her soft breaths warming his neck and her scent wrapping around him like a sense of home he'd never known, he couldn't bring himself to move her head. For a while he just sat there, listening to the laundry tumble and trying to ignore the wet patch of her drool that was forming on her shoulder. It was worth it to be close to her like this, with that same uninhibited peacefulness on her face he'd seen on the first day he met her.

Of course, only now would interruption chose to find him. Outside, a couple of sparrows were scratching in the dirt, bouncing innocently closer to the Laundromat's open door. When one let out a characteristic song, Kakashi knew he was being summoned. Very gently, he lifted her head off of his shoulder and rested it against the chair in a more comfortable manner.

At the Hokage tower, the third Hokage awaited Kakashi with the curtains of his office windows drawn.

"Thank you for coming quickly, Kakashi," Hiruzen said. Kakashi nodded in response. "Tomorrow, a small medical team is being sent to Touna for a short follow-up to our work in healthcare there. You will be escorting them as a guard."

"Okay. So what's my real mission?" Kakashi drawled, knowing well enough that Hiruzen had plenty of others that could be a meager guard just as easily.

"There is a wealthy merchant who was robbed of several valuable items in that area. He came to Konoha for help. By all means, it appeared to be a simple robbery. However, the jounin I sent hardly made it back alive. The leader of the group is described as a very short man with a curved scar on his left cheek, but whose fighting abilities are quite average aside from their mysterious advantage. It appears he may be just an underling working for someone too smart to really get their hands dirty," Hiruzen reported.

"So there's someone elite involved," Kakashi observed.

"All signs say so," Hiruzen agreed. The Hokage unrolled a map in front of him. "We believe the thieves have taken a resting spot just North of Touna, in this valley. I want you to retrieve the lost items, and find out who or what their mysterious advantage is. The merchant reported two large scrolls stolen, along with a small box that should contain a couple of sacred stones." Kakashi nodded, his mind already running through the logistics quickly.

"Call for back-up if you need it. Kurenai will also be with the medical team. I have not informed her of your mission, but she is there to help you should you need it."

"Good," Kakashi said lazily. Hiruzen frowned a little at that.

"Kakashi, don't underestimate your enemy. These thieves are not petty in the slightest. From the mission report, it appears as though they outwitted our jounin at every turn," Hiruzen said with a deep warning in his tone. Kakashi shifted his weight from only one to both of his legs, standing to his full height and squaring his shoulders subtly.

"I understand that," Kakashi said. There was a humorless edge to his words as he challenged Hiruzen's subtle accusation that Kakashi was taking this mission with anything but utter seriousness. Yes, Obito's death had made him "lighten up" some, but he would still always be the kind of man who tied all of his knots underneath it all. Leaving some knots untied on purpose was a different story… Hiruzen considered him with a critical eye for a moment, then nodded.

"The team leaves at dawn," he said finally. Kakashi let out a murmur of affirmative, and then let himself out of the Hokage's office.

As he made his way back to his apartment, he thought about the not-so-petty thieves he would be facing. Of course, he wouldn't know how to face them until he met them himself, but it didn't hurt to replay old tactics in his mind.

When he got home, he could sense someone there immediately. Still, he walked in without worry. He could tell it was Tenzou, along with Genma. Tenzou still seemed surprised to see him as he walked in though.

"Hey, Kakashi! What the hell, man? Did you ever think to maybe let me know you hadn't crawled off your bed and died in a gutter somewhere?" Tenzou said, waving his hands around exasperatedly. Genma let out a laugh from where he sat on the couch, lazily rolling his senbon between his lips.

"What?" Kakashi asked without inflection as he opened his fridge. It was actually a surprise to him that there was so much as a tube of ketchup and an old six-pack of sugary soda that had two missing. If Anko didn't come and pick that up eventually, it was going to expire.

"Last I saw you, you were white as a sheet and absolutely delirious," Tenzou said, his infuriation melting into a resigned, stubborn tone. "Who's Makoto, anyways?" Kakashi straightened up suddenly. Probably too quickly. He tried to look through the cupboards casually.

"Beats me," Kakashi shrugged.

"Hm, sure," Tenzou said. Kakashi glanced over his shoulder to see the teenager with a skeptical look on his face. Then Tenzou sighed, his expression falling back into resignation. _Good. He knows better than to think I'll tell him anything I don't want to,_ Kakashi thought, pleased.

"I see you helped yourself," Kakashi drawled as he opened another cupboard to find it sorely lacking.

"We had quite an appetite after last night," Genma muttered with a chuckle. Kakashi looked over at the back of Genma's head, slightly curious.

"Hey, who was that medic girl?" Tenzou asked evasively. Kakashi shut his cupboard with a sigh before letting himself chase Tenzou's white rabbit. He didn't really want to know what Genma made Tenzou do while he wasn't there anyways.

"Sayuri," he replied simply.

"Well, I know, that's what she said… I mean, who _is_ she? To you?" Tenzou's voice gained a more meaningful tone as it went on. Kakashi held back his temptation to sigh again, looking away from his prying friend. That alone was probably a give, but it would be worse for Tenzou to actually see his reaction to that.

"She's just a medic with loose morals," Kakashi responded after a slight beat.

"Ohhh, I see," Tenzou said with a little laugh. Kakashi shot him a contemptuous look, but apparently he hadn't disciplined the damn kid enough recently, as Tenzou just gave an evocative raise of his eyebrows. Kakashi didn't think about it, just grabbed the nearest semi-hard object and chucked it at him. Tenzou was too busy being a damn nosy idiot to see the wooden spoon flying towards him until it hit him square between the eyes.

"Ow!" Tenzou exclaimed, as if he hadn't had to run ten miles in the rain holding his own arm on his shoulder once. He looked at Kakashi with those dark, friendly eyes of his that were steadily growing wider. Kakashi tried to look casual, but his lips were pressed in a thin line of irritation under his mask.

"Hey, you do like her! I _knew_ it," Tenzou said with a small triumph even as he massaged his brow. Then his smile faded some as he realized. "Except she's going back to Suna eventually, huh? Well, that's rough." Kakashi sighed and gave him a withering look. _As if I didn't know,_ he thought.

"So?" Genma piped in from the couch, always the casual optimist. "You might as well try. I mean, if she liked you enough, she could always stay. I saw her. She's pretty cute. Very much your type, Kakashi." Kakashi couldn't help but bristle at that, narrowing his open eye critically. When had Sayuri run into Genma? In the hospital, maybe? Was he shirtless? Kakashi wondered if she would blush to heal Genma's shirtless chest.

"Yeah, you should go for it," Tenzou said with renewed enthusiasm, completely unaware of interrupting Kakashi's waking nightmare.

"I don't remember signing up for a talk show from _Relationships: Konoha Edition_," Kakashi said, with a flatly un-amused look between Tenzou and the back of Genma's head.

"Don't be like that, Kakashi," Tenzou said.

"Like what?" Kakashi said icily. Genma seemed to sense the temperature drop, as he turned to look over his shoulder. The jounin let out a bark of laughter.

"I think Tenzou here means to say you're frigid," Genma said, giving Kakashi a level look. In a rare moment, the copy ninja felt somewhat cowed. It was… true. Since the day Rin had died, he hadn't so much as winked at a member of the opposite sex. He hadn't ever planned to, either. It was messy for a ninja to love, wasn't it? Sayuri had literally smacked him out of it though, and it seemed that his friends had sniffed out his heart thawing from across town.

"Sayuri's in love with some other guy," Kakashi rebutted, and the words felt like they weighed more than the Hokage Monument. Both of his friends seemed slightly taken aback by that. Of all the excuses they had expected out of the copy ninja, this genuine one was not one of them. Kakashi felt it was a hollow victory. All men knew the story, and now it was replaying in Kakashi's life like some terrible clichéd soap-opera.

She was falling for the jerk. Nice guys finish last.

"Still - so? I know plenty of women who would dump their boyfriends at the drop of a hat for you," Genma said, holding his senbon between his fingers and gesturing at Kakashi as if that argued his point.

"Yeah, just show her your _face_," Tenzou suggested with another evocative movement of his eyebrows. Kakashi's gaze narrowed. The fact that he was good-looking had not escaped him, and it was actually one of the reasons wearing a mask was quite useful. He wanted people in his life that liked him for more than his looks.

"What _did_ happen last night, Tenzou? You seem different," Kakashi asked. In reality, Tenzou was no different, but just asking the question would have been too obvious of an evasion.

"Ah, well, I don't remember much of it…" Tenzou mumbled. Genma straightened up on the couch, turning with a cat-like grin.

They didn't bring up Sayuri again, much to Kakashi's peace of mind.

Saturday morning, Sakura woke up long before the sun. She donned her best tough-Sayuri outfit, complete with gloves and a brilliant red scarf. She knew just what to pack, and so she was prepared by the time the first traces of light began to touch the sky. Naka had simply watched from the windowsill silently, those wide green eyes of hers utterly emotionless and inhuman. There was a foreboding heaviness in the quiet of morning that Sakura couldn't shake.

"You'll be coming with me. I need you to be an extra set of eyes and ears - especially at night," Sakura told the bird quietly, knowing Naka would hear even if she whispered.

"What of Gio?" Naka asked solemnly.

"Tell him to stay here, and that should anything come up, he is to go to Haruhi and tell her first," she said. Rouri would still be in town, after all. Naka took off so silently then that Sakura had to glance over to be sure she had gone at all.

When she got to the gate, most of the team was already there. Itsuko was just walking up as she was, leaving them only missing one ANBU member.

Sakura started to see that Kurenai really did look much younger. Being around Kakashi had drawn up an illusion that she wasn't really so far into the past, though he had always seemed ageless in the first place.

"Sayuri, from Suna, isn't it?" Kurenai said with a thoughtful tilt of her head. The differences were much less subtle in her than they had been in Kakashi. Her face seemed narrower, her smile with fewer lines, and there was more innocence in her observant blood-red eyes. At least, as much innocence as any experienced kunoichi was capable of having.

"Yes," Sakura said, giving her a warm smile. "You're Kurenai?" The dark-haired woman nodded in response, casting a look around the streets surrounding them.

"Alright, let's go," Kurenai said. "Our guard will catch up easily. We might as well get a head start." At that, the team tightened the straps on their packs and headed off at an easy walk. If the others felt bored by the pace, they hid it well. Sakura doubted there was much of a rush anyways.

Just when they were getting outside of Konoha, Sakura sensed someone approaching. She saw Kurenai's head perk up slightly as well, and then a man wearing an animal mask landed at her side gracefully, hands in his pockets.

"Yo," he said to her. Even if she hadn't seen the great tuft of silver hair on his head, Sakura could have figured out it was him from two miles away. Actually, it was a bit pointless he even wore the mask, considering how well-known he was even before joining the ANBU. Kakashi didn't so much as glanced in her direction.

In fact, he seemed to be pointedly ignoring her the entire trip. It shouldn't have bothered her, but it did. For him to walk around so carefree in that form-fitting shirt of his was pure torture. When she heard him chuckle at something Kurenai said, Sakura found herself wishing it had been another ANBU member. Any other. Frustrated, she made a point to walk near the front of the group for the rest of the journey. At least that way she could somewhat pretend he wasn't there.

Without Kakashi's backside in front of her to brazenly view, Sakura marveled at the countryside as they traveled. The forest was not too different, though it was slightly younger. The path was often narrower at certain parts than she recognized. She found herself searching for familiar landmarks as she went. Some were easy, like the silhouette of a nearby mountain range, while others were hard more difficult. A tree that she had marked with a kunai once was younger now, with unmarred bark, but she recognized its odd lean over the path.

"It must seem so different," Itsuko remarked to her as the sun was setting, apparently having observed her observing their surroundings.

"Oh yes, there are so many different plants," Sakura said with a bashful smile. _What a tawdry observation, Sayuri, _Sakura imagined herself telling the brown-haired girl that was using her body these days. The separation between herself and her identity as Sayuri was growing as time went on. Sometimes Sakura felt like she had a personality disorder. It had been a very long time since anyone had called her Sakura, after all.

"I see you've been enjoying them, too," Itsuko said with an amused smile, reaching over to pick something out of her hair. His hand came away holding a small yellow-green leaf. Sakura smiled in embarrassment. There was suddenly a sensation of murderous intent somewhere nearby, but it was fleeting. Sakura forced herself not to react, as apparently no one else felt it. Itsuko just smiled at her, and it was utterly innocent. Just friendly. There'd been no purpose in that motion other than to take the leaf out of her hair. It was a relief to her.

"Well, it's not so bad as having sand in your hair," she said with a little chuckle. Which was true. Sakura shuddered at remembering the feeling of running her fingers through her hair only to discover sand resting against her scalp, which had been after a long mission in Suna itself.

"I imagine that would feel horrible," Itsuko went on politely. Sakura found him very nice, but very boring, so she only hummed in agreement. She didn't want to encourage him into the commitment of a conversation. Luckily, he said nothing more, and the rest of the journey was fairly silent.

As twilight was gaining ground, the team arrived in Touna. It was a very small town, built mostly around one central road that went through it. The few people still out seemed nervous, watching the Konoha shinobi with a wariness that Sakura recognized. Low-risk as the third Hokage had told them this mission would be, Sakura couldn't help but feel the hairs raise on her back. Most of the shops had already closed, and there were only a couple of inns that still had their light out front on. This was a town that had not known much friendliness from outsiders, apparently.

They all followed Kurenai in silence to the larger of the inns. Inside the lobby, Sakura pushed her hood back and looked around. The furniture looked like it had been nice when it had been made, but that was probably a number of years ago… In the corner sat a tall plant with odd, curly leaves. Sakura approached it as Kurenai spoke with the inn keeper in a low voice. Upon touching it, she found the leaves to be utterly synthetic.

"That's fake," Kakashi said lowly to her. Sakura looked up at his white cat-face and couldn't hold back a snort of amusement.

"Oh, is it?" Sakura said with a click of her tongue, making sure to lay on the sarcasm thick. "Gee, since I grew up in Suna, if it's not a cactus I just can't tell the difference…" She smiled at Kakashi while she simultaneously crinkled her nose. It was impossible to know his reaction to that, as he just watched her silently from behind his mask. The way he just stood there made Sakura wonder if what'd she'd said was rude. Then again, she couldn't even be sure he was awake.

"Hey, Sayuri," Kurenai called from the front desk. "We've got our rooms. Come on." With one last glance at the unresponsive Kakashi, Sakura followed after the dark-haired kunoichi who was already striding up the stairs to the rooms.

They had two rooms. Each had one queen-sized bed in it, complete with bed covers that matched the flower-patterned curtains drawn shut over the windows. Sakura got the bed with Kaede.

"I'll just sleep in Itsuko's bed," Kurenai said simply when the girls asked where she would sleep. A defensive look flashed in her red eyes as she saw something in their faces. "Oh relax, I mean it only in the literal sense of the word. Besides, he doesn't even like women."

"Oh," Sakura blurted aloud, genuinely surprised by that. It didn't really surprise her that Itsuko was gay, but she couldn't remember that she'd ever actually met anyone who was before. Kurenai seemed a little peeved by their reactions, but only sighed.

"I'll see you ladies in the morning," Kurenai said dismissively, walking out and closing the door behind her.

The rest of the night was simple. Kaede and Sakura ate dinner together quietly. Sakura made a few attempts to make polite conversation, but Kaede was practical as always. Only when she asked about what they would do the next day did Kaede find her voice.

"There was a very serious outbreak of Tuberculosis here a few months ago. I distributed antibiotics, but because it is so highly contagious and persistent to treatment, a follow-up is needed. We're going to be screening old patients for signs of healing and making sure no one else in town has it. There's a small health clinic further into town that serves as the local hospital of sorts. Their facilities are nothing close to Konoha's, but…"

Kaede went on to describe the low-budget health facilities, as well as multiple individual cases that were particularly troublesome to her. Sakura hardly had to ask questions to keep the information streaming out of her mouth. For all the interest Kaede actually showed in life, there seemed to be a tenfold amount that she observed and remembered.

As Sakura lay down for bed and silence reigned strong in the small room, she thought of Kakashi. She wondered where he was. It was unlikely he'd be sharing a room with any of them, what with his _identity_ at stake. Sakura rolled her eyes in the dark. In his case, his identity always preceded him despite a mask, but everyone knew better than to disrespect the establishment of the ANBU. So he would be sleeping alone somewhere, or maybe even off on his own covert mission. Sakura had thought it slightly odd they would need an ANBU guard in the first place, so that was actually quite likely.

Only when Kaede's breathing grew very heavy with sleep did Sakura realize she had been fretting about Kakashi so much that she was still wide awake. She tried to focus on more calming thoughts then.

At first light, the team headed straight to the health clinic. Sakura was surprised to see a group of weary-looking people already clustered out front. They perked up considerably when they saw the medic hats on the heads of Kaede, Itsuko, and herself.

"Seru, you look very well," Kaede said warmly to a woman with short graying hair wearing scrubs.

"We're glad that you're here again. Most of the TB has subsided, but a few more cases have come up. We kept them isolated like you asked," Seru said in a gravelly voice, leading them inside. Itsuko and Kaede greeted many others that they knew from their last visit, and Sakura followed after Kaede meekly.

"Sayuri, be of some use and start helping patients," Kaede said in her usual blunt manner as she gestured to the line at the door.

"Okay," Sakura said, more than ready to be of some actual use as she headed over and escorted the first person in line to an empty bed. Many of the injuries were fairly minor, and so she was able to use the small skills she had 'learned' from Kaede throughout the day. It pleased her to be useful. Even Kurenai found a way to help, using her genjutsu skills to distract patients in a large amount of pain while they were treated.

"That was actually pleasant. I loved the falling petals everywhere - very peaceful," a patient told Kurenai as she dropped the genjutsu. Sakura smiled a little knowingly. The patient touched her bandaged arm curiously, seeing it for the first time. "Thank you, both of you."

"It was my pleasure," Sakura said honestly. "Just be sure to change the bandages at least daily, or more if you get it wet." The patient thanked them again, and walked out with a smile on her face.

"Your technique is quite useful in this field," Sakura said to Kurenai. The genjutsu specialist turned her red lips upwards into a smirk.

"Yes, it can be. Not everyone trusts a kunoichi though," she said, with just a hint of bitterness. Sakura nodded empathetically. Equal as gender rights were supposed to be, Sakura knew that even in her time there was still some doubt that a woman could really be a good shinobi. On top of that, she could understand why someone might mistrust being put under a stranger's genjutsu.

For the first time that day, Sakura went to the lobby to find no patients waiting. Outside, the light was fading and the world had gained a coating of snow. She yawned and stretched, taking the free time to sit for a moment.

"Long day?" Kaede said, walking in and adding a pile of paperwork to a cupboard behind the desk.

"Mhm," Sakura hummed.

"You did well. You can go now. Itsuko and I just have some more filing to do before we close up," she said, dismissing Sakura with a wave.

"Okay. See you back at the inn," Sakura said.

Kakashi had scoped out the camp that morning from a good distance. There were about nine men and one woman. He had spotted the man with the scar that Hiruzen had told him about. Based on his superficial observations, only he and a few other of the men appeared to have any kind of skill in fighting. Of course, he knew better than to judge a book entirely by its cover.

The camp consisted of several tents and one horse-pulled carriage built for cargo. His money was on the loot being in the carriage, based on the way the tents had been set up around it and there was always at least one person hanging outside of it. Satisfied with the amount of information he'd gotten, he decided to wait until the cover of night to attack.

For the rest of the day, he lounged on rooftops and watched the town move about. Many people were brought out of hiding by the presence of the Konoha medics, and so Kakashi had plenty of people-watching to do. Of course, he also had Icha Icha to read. He found himself only growing more and more sucked into the story as the pages left dwindled into the single digits. To top it all off, the ending was a total cliff-hanger. Kakashi shoved the book back into his pocket, agonized by the suspense that seemed to be indefinite.

As evening came around, the town slowed down. Just as he found himself wondering just how much longer those medics would be slaving away, he saw her. Walking down the street without her winter cloak, Sayuri seemed oblivious to the fact that he was watching her. Kakashi unconsciously sat up a little straighter, his eyes scanning her face. She seemed… happier. There was a slight weariness in her step, but it didn't seem to bring her down.

For once, there was an inkling of peacefulness in her face. Kakashi rested his chin on his palm and watched her walk by. There was something so revealing and curious about watching her when she thought she was alone that he couldn't bring himself to say something and break that moment. Besides, it's not like he could just go and give her the book back now. His identity was supposed to be hidden, though the way she'd teased him in the lobby made her think it wasn't so secret of a thing. _Probably the hair,_ he mused to himself.

In the distance, an owl let out two low hoots. Sayuri stiffened suddenly, looking in the direction of the sound like it was something highly abnormal. Then she scanned the street quickly, her eyes not missing himself, where he was slouched in a cross-legged sitting position on the roof of the building she had just passed. There was a long awkward moment as she watched him with a calculating glare. Kakashi raised his hand and gave a little wave, quite impervious to the awkwardness.

She turned away with a low chuckle, continuing down the street until she reached the inn and went inside. Kakashi tried not to let his mind wander to that, or to think of what she might be doing now to warm up…

He stood abruptly. It was about time he got those stolen items back.

Sakura strolled in an easy way back to the inn, but as soon as she was out of sight of Kakashi, she moved quickly to her room. Naka had said she needed to speak with her, and she had to do that before the rest of the team returned. So she abandoned her medic hat and donned a thick cloak to ward off the cold, then jumped out the back window.

She didn't have to move very far into the forest to find Naka. The bird looked calm as always, her pale green eyes colorless in the dark, snowy night.

"I thought you should know, I saw Rouri here today," Naka said.

"Rouri? Was she with a Konoha team?" Sakura asked, a little confused.

"No, she was alone. She bore no headband," Naka said smoothly in her deep voice. Sakura's eyes widened at that. She mulled it over.

"She saw you," Naka continued, "and then she hid immediately after. I think it is what you would call 'suspicious.' This is why I risked signaling you in front of Kakashi."

"That _is_ suspicious. Thank you, Naka," Sakura said anxiously. It could have been explained away, that maybe Rouri was visiting distant family or something like that, but the fact that she had hidden was a bad sign. There was a moment of silence, and Sakura saw Naka's pupils dilate slightly as the owl watched something in the distance.

"Hide, quickly," she said suddenly. Sakura did not question her, simply leapt up into the tree beside her, allowing her deep brown cloak to cover all of her. Hardly a second later she saw why.

A figure in a black cloak ghosted along the snowy forest floor. When he stopped and turned his head to the side just slightly, Sakura caught sight of a tuft of silver hair over a white ANBU mask that stood out starkly in the dim light. He paused only briefly, and then continued on swiftly as before. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief when he was out of sight. Naka watched where he had disappeared a few moments longer before turning her unblinking gaze back to Sakura.

"Is that suspicious too?" The bird asked. When she had first become a summon to Sakura, Naka had had little understanding of human behavior. She never forgot anything, but she often had trouble understanding concepts over specifics. For instance, Naka had understood that when someone throws a kunai it is shows an intent to harm, but she had failed to apply that knowledge to shuriken. Sakura was always painstakingly diligent on informing her feathered friend of all the details after that.

"In a sense it is," Sakura informed her, "but it is not a bad kind. Kakashi in this time is an ANBU member, so he is often doing covert missions. It is likely that any low-level mission an ANBU is sent on is just a cover for another, high-level mission." Naka absorbed this mutely. Even as she told her summon not to worry, Sakura couldn't help but worry. What was Kakashi doing alone? Yes, he was a highly-skilled shinobi and one of the youngest jounin ever made, but still… Her curiosity mixed with her anxiety over his well-being, and in that moment she decided to follow him.

"Where are you going?" Naka asked as Sakura vaulted off the tree.

"I'm just curious about where he's going," she said, trying to downplay it with a wave of her hand. "I'll make sure I'm not seen, with your help." Naka watched her for a long moment before taking flight and following her lazily as Sakura followed his tracks through the snow. She would have to think of a good excuse for coming back to the hotel late before she got back.

Silently and swiftly, Kakashi made his way through the woods towards the camp. The snow muffled all the sounds around him, making his footfalls sound abnormally loud. He moved into the tree tops as he grew closer, as he didn't need anyone following his footprints or hearing him coming.

There were two men posted outside of the carriage. This was going to be a piece of cake. Kakashi deftly made the seals for a shadow clone, and the copy popped up next to him on the branch. The clone performed a henge of a random stranger, and left him to be the distraction as he skirted around the camp, searching for the easiest entry point. The carriage had two openings - one at the front and one at the back - so he had his clone approach from the side.

The first guard was easy enough. The clone finished him with a slice of a kunai to the throat. Of course, the second guard heard and came around with some commotion.

"Hey! We've got an intruder!" The man yelled. Kakashi himself had already moved with deadly stealth into the carriage. Sure enough, it took only a moment for him to pick out the shape of the two large scrolls in the dark. He grabbed them silently, all the while scanning for the little box.

His clone fought valiantly outside, even as others began to wake up and join the fray. _Good job, little Kakashi,_ he thought of his clone. It was then that he spotted the box, pocketing it quickly. With the scrolls on his back under his cloak, he was ready to leave.

"Forget the shadow clone," a female voice suddenly rang out. "The real one's in the carriage. He's here for Niuma's things. It's Kakashi Hatake."

"Oh, hell no!" A male voice responded. The sound of hand-to-hand combat ceased and there was a new flood of awareness as his clone was killed. The memories provided him a good awareness of how many were out there and their fighting tactics. Mostly they were typical hired muscle - not very advanced in skill - except for the woman. She'd dodged his kunai nearly before he'd thrown it. On top of her eerie knowledge of who he was and what he was here for, that was an incredible show of her skill. Kakashi knew he had to get out, fast.

He burst out of the opposite side of the carriage that his clone had been, the material tearing with loud argument. The woman was there when he got out. She wore loose clothing for sleeping, and her hair was a wild contrast to her calm face. In this light, the color was hard to decipher, but he could tell it had a few grey streaks from age.

Kakashi opened his Sharingan eye and darted to the right, only to find she threw a handful of senbon to his right so quickly that he just barely dodged them. Well, mostly. He felt one senbon bite where it had hit his leg. Still, that didn't stop him as he darted away quickly. None of them were a match for him at full speed, and so soon enough he was gone.

Only after he'd been running for about a minute did he realize why no one was following him in much of a hurry. A numbness was spreading from his leg, and his vision was going fuzzy. _Poisoned. Hide._ Kakashi thought foggily. It was all he could do to crawl in a crevice under a large nearby boulder. He hadn't even pulled his feet in when he felt unconsciousness take over him. His last thought was that he hoped it was just a sedative before the darkness took him.

Sakura had watched the whole thing from a nearby tree, with Naka at her side. The only thing that made the owl's outline visible in the full night was the thin layer of snow that had gathered on her head. Sakura brushed it off of the owl with a hand, and Naka gave her one of those unfathomable looks of hers, as if Sakura had just committed some owl-society sin.

Kakashi seemed to have the cat in the bag, until that woman came out. She wore pajamas and boots with a fuzzy edge at the top, but walked with confidence nonetheless. She hadn't even looked at the gruff stranger attacking them before she called him out as a shadow clone. Sakura felt her jaw drop in shock. This woman was good, whoever she was. There were grey streaks in her hair and lines around her mouth, but she still seemed fairly youthful in the way she ran easily over to the carriage.

Kakashi burst out of it only to be face to face with her. She saw him pause just infinitesimally, which she recognized as him sizing up all escape routes, and then he darted off. The woman through some senbon, but they seemed to fall short as he turned his white-masked face away and vanished into the dark.

"Don't worry, I hit him. He'll be out in thirty seconds and then we'll find him," the woman said.

"Are you sure?" One of the men asked.

"Yes. Don't worry, you'll have your things back," she said to him sharply. The man scoffed. Sakura shared his sentiment.

"No way did she hit him," she muttered.

"She did," Naka countered lowly. Sakura looked at the bird with astonishment. If that was true, they had to help him. Now.

"Find him. I'll follow," Sakura said. Naka flew off quickly, her wings beating the air without a sound.

"Don't worry? You're supposed to prevent these things! That's why we pay you so much, bitch! Juda is dead!" The man below was almost yelling now as Sakura crept through the treetops past the campsite. Kakashi had looked like he went this direction, but it was hard to tell now.

"I have to sleep sometime! You're lucky that I even got him with one senbon. Now you better apologize to me!" The woman yelled, reminding Sakura eerily of her mother. There was a long pause, and then a thud sounded out over the snow.

"Ow! Okay, I'm sorry, Denna," the man said in a voice that was not at all apologetic. Sakura felt her blood run cold.

This was it. This was why Makoto had seen Kakashi's friendship as a good lead. Truth be told, she wouldn't have followed him out here if she hadn't had feelings for him. Even if they'd only been friends, she would have let him do his mission. Her feelings hadn't been the thing that would step on the wrong butterfly - they were the butterfly. Denna was here. Sakura had seen her with her own eyes. It wouldn't be too hard to go back now and find out more, maybe even figure out where she lived and -

"He went this way," a voice sounded out behind her. They had found the same footprints Sakura was following. She picked up her pace, following them in the treetops. A hoot sounded out very lowly ahead, and she moved as fast as she could. It had been a while since she had pushed herself like this, so when she reached the rock that Naka was perched atop of, her breath came in heavy puffs.

Still, she pulled Kakashi out easily, pushing warm chakra into her limbs as she pushed back his mask. His eyes rolled in his head and he blinked unevenly as he struggled against consciousness. Whatever had been on the senbon was fast acting, and from the way his muscles were tensed throughout his body, she doubted it was a simple sedative. First things first, she reached under his cloak and found the damn thing, pulling it out and pocketing it.

"They're coming," Naka stated from where she sat. Sakura needed to get the poison out of his system now. She could have easily run back with him, but there was no time to waste. There was only one option. With quick hands, she performed a summoning jutsu.

Kai appeared before her in a great amount of smoke, as he was a great creature. The closest resemblance he had was that of a golden eagle, but his feathers were actually more tawny than that. Plus, he was probably ten times larger. Naka looked like tiny in comparison. The handsome bird tilted his head and looked at her questioningly, and Sakura put a finger to her lips.

Without a word, she slung Kakashi over her shoulder and clambered onto Kai's back. Around his neck was a large pink scarf. Sakura had fashioned it for him out of a few blankets cut in half and sown together. After sliding off the slick feathers on his back mid-air the first time she rode him, she had deemed it highly necessary. That was also the reason she didn't allow him to take her on 'joy rides' anymore.

"Up, now," she said softly to Kai. Placing Kakashi in front of her, she held on tight. The force of his upward rising was still surprising. The clouds were low, so it wouldn't be long before they were completely hidden. He beat his wings once to gain air, pulled them in briefly to slip through the tree tops, and then opened them fully. His wingspan had to be over twenty feet long - maybe thirty. Sakura pushed warm chakra into her limbs in order to hold herself and Kakashi's dead weight as Kai shot up into the clouds.

It was bitter cold within the storm, and ice and water whipped at Sakura's face and bare arms where her cloak had been pushed back by the wind. She cringed into Kakashi's back.

"Almost there," Kai said in his resonating voice, his strong wings pumping in long sweeps. "Hold on, little one." Kakashi groaned lowly in pain beneath her, making Sakura wonder just how far the clouds went.

As soon as she wondered that, they were clear. The moon shone brightly over a soft field of clouds, and the stars twinkled imperviously above the storm they had just escaped. There was only the sound of the wind and the periodic beat of Kai's great wings as he coasted easily on the air. Sakura hardly even noticed the peaceful beauty around her as she rolled Kakashi onto his back.

"Stay flat and steady, Kai. I need to heal this man. I will explain later," Sakura said, pushing the copy ninja onto the broader space between the great bird's wings as she balanced on the back of his neck, her feet tucked into his scarf still.

Immediately, she made a quick cut on his arm with her chakra to draw the poison out of. She filtered through the blood with her chakra, feeling for the abnormality and drawing it out into a slowly growing drop just below her palm. The actual amount in his bloodstream was infinitesimal, but that didn't make it any easier to clear his system. If just the amount on a senbon could do this kind of damage, Sakura couldn't risk leaving so much as a single molecule in his bloodstream. Of course, it wasn't a perfect art, so after she had done all she could she flung the drop over the edge of Kai's wing and healed Kakashi's cut. Sakura wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, heaving a sigh of relief. They were in the clear. For now.

"Thanks, Kai. We were in a tricky spot. I had to get him out of there, but I didn't have time to run away all night. I needed to get the poison out of his system immediately," Sakura told him. Kai tilted his head to regard her with one golden eye the size of a teacup saucer. Even moreso than Naka, Kai was intelligent. Plus, he had a friendliness that she didn't. She would have summoned him for more of her missions if he wasn't so unbelievably large for a bird.

"I figured as much. Where are we, exactly?" Kai asked in his booming voice. Sakura had always imagined it to sound quite royal, like the voice of a great king. Of course, he was a king of birds if she'd ever met one.

"Thirteen years in the past, just outside of Touna," Sakura said. "Which reminds me… Where is Naka?"

"Here," Naka called out from below Kai, her voice sounding small now. Sure enough, her dark form was below, her wings beating nonstop just to keep up with Kai's drifting. Sakura reached into a pocket of her skirt, knowing she'd shoved some old note paper from work today with a pen. Sure enough, there it was. She quickly scrawled a note onto it. It wasn't hard to forge her teacher's scrawling handwriting after having had to decipher it for so many years.

_Kurenai,_

_I have requested Sayuri's medical assistance for the evening. She was the only one available at the time I needed her. We will be back very late tonight, if at all._

_Signed with love,_

_Your loyal ANBU guard_

Sakura allowed herself a smirk after re-reading it. Kakashi would say that, right? Rolling it up, she reached out to give it to Naka. The owl took the note in one claw.

"Give that to Kurenai, the kunoichi with dark hair and red eyes who was with my team. Make sure only she gets it and that no one sees you leaving it. After that, head straight to Konoha and tell Makoto that I spotted Denna here," Sakura said. The owl blinked at her once and then began to dive down, probably relieved she wouldn't have to try to keep up with Kai anymore.

"Is your friend healed?" Kai asked over his shoulder, casting a wear glance to the sleeping man on his back.

"Yes, and he should wake up soon. I've removed the poison from his system, so his body needs to recuperate from whatever damage it did do and then he should be fine," Sakura explained. She didn't add that she was worried. She didn't need to. Kai probably heard it in her voice. "We should find a place to land, not too far from town but not too close. If he wakes up and sees you, I will have a lot of explaining to do…" Kai chuckled, and the sound resonated up through her with physical force.

"Don't your other friends have giant summons too? I thought the yellow-haired one has toads, doesn't he?" Kai said amusedly.

"I'm on an undercover mission, actually. I wasn't supposed to help him, but I couldn't just sit back and watch him be taken by those thieves," Sakura mumbled. The wind whipped her hair around and stung at her cheeks, which were burning from the cold.

"Hm," Kai rumbled. "Well, he must be worth it to have my little Sakura's heart so. I was not sure it would ever be captured. You know, it was why I thought you worthy of a contract with us. You have a heart like a bird. A little flighty, but strong. Independent, but soft and gentle." Sakura just blinked at him for a moment, then let out a small laugh.

"I think Gio tries to be eloquent and poetic because he listens to you too much," she teased. Kai chuckled lowly again at that.

"Oh, he certainly tries. Unfortunately, that's all I can give him," Kai said, which made Sakura laugh again. She was feeling pretty good. She'd found Denna, discovered her feelings for Kakashi weren't evil, and Kai always seemed to cheer her up too. It was almost a shame that they had to land and she had to step back into the small shoes of Sayuri again.

"I've found a place that looks dry and hidden enough," Kai told her after a moment. How he could see through the clouds was a mystery to her, but it was a question for another day. She pulled Kakashi up to rest on his neck and then held on behind him as before. With no sense of emergency in her now, she was all too aware of the warmth of Kakashi's slack body pressed against hers.

"Okay, let's go," Sakura said once she had a firm grip.

"Please Sakura, you insult me," Kai mumbled. "When I am not rushed, you would not even need to hold on. If all I am to help you with is getting from one place to another, at least I will do that perfectly." Sakura loosened her grip some at that, trying to relax as the great bird tipped his wings forward and they began to lose altitude at an alarming rate.


	9. Secrets

**The Circle**

Chapter 9: Secrets

_Note: I apologize for having no breaks in any of the previous chapters! I thought everyone was crazy in the reviews, because I do put in scene change breaks when I'm writing. Apparently somewhere in the uploading process they get lost. So now I feel really smart... XP Anyways, enjoy this chapter! New, with scene breaks! Hehe..._

* * *

Makoto was woken by an odd tap on the window. For a while he just sat there, the fog of sleep slowly sifting clear of his mind, wondering if he had really heard anything at all. Then it happened again - an insistent tapping. He grabbed the stone pendant necklace off of his bedside table and put it over his head. The moment the stone touched his skin, the world was alive with possibilities again. There were few words in this language that could explain how he could feel the flow of time around him. Some places it moved fast and quick, inevitable as a raging river, but in others it was slow and swirling, full of eddies and creeks branching off.

Now he could feel it, the raging river of time and space, pushing him towards the window. It was an important event, he knew that much. So Makoto walked up without fear, pushing the window open.

"Izumi?" Makoto drawled with a slight surprise, watching the blond who was standing outside his window with nonchalance. Her long, loose hair swung like curtains as she tilted her head playfully.

"Let me in, Makoto," she said in that impatient tone she often took with him. He had been slightly hopeful after the first night when she had kissed him that things would continue that way, only to find that they hadn't. It had been some kunoichi trick, a henge or something… Makoto felt silly to be ashamed of it, but he was. He didn't even know who had actually stolen that kiss from him. Trying not to notice the way the moonlight touched her smooth, slightly-tanned skin, he crossed his arms over his chest as he watched her. Ino rested a hand on one cocked hip.

"Why don't you just use the front door like a normal person?" Makoto asked. Even as he spoke, she walked closer. Too close to be casual. The blond smiled in an uncharacteristically sweet way and ran a hand up his arm so lightly it left a trail of goosebumps. Makoto swallowed.

"What, do you need the password?" She pouted. So close now that he could smell her skin, warm like peaches, Ino leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Tsunade." When she pressed her lips against his neck just below his ear, Makoto felt a shiver run down his spine.

"W-what are you…" Makoto started, but found his willpower falter as she ran her nails down his back and around his middle towards the top of his pajama pants.

"Geez, lighten up, Makoto," she said teasingly as she shoved him back from the window suddenly and climbed into the room herself. She was always so graceful and sure. When Ino pressed her lips against his and gave a little moan, whatever had been left of Makoto's willpower crumbled into dust. They fell onto the bed already entangled.

* * *

When they reached the resting spot, Sakura hoisted Kakashi off of Kai and set him under the pile of fallen trees that would be their shelter until he awoke. The pine needles underneath were mostly dry. It was a bit shallow, but it was long enough to fit even a tall man from head to toe.

"Good job, Kai. This is the perfect spot," Sakura told the great bird as she adjusted his scarf. She still loved the fact that he'd let her make him a pink one the same color as her hair. Then again, Gio seemed to have an odd fascination with making a nest out of her hair in the first place. Maybe all birds liked pink.

"Well, you're welcome," Kai said with pride, rustling his great wings over his back. A bird's face had no way of smiling with lips like humans, but there was a slight squint and curve to the eyes that she had come to recognize as their smile of sorts. Kai gave that look now, and Sakura returned it with a wide grin of her own.

"Hopefully I will find reason to see you again soon, Kai," Sakura said, petting the great bird's tawny chest. Kai hummed and nodded.

"Be well, little one," he said, bumping her chest with the round front of his beak before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Kakashi was still unconscious, though she could tell it was a light unconsciousness by the way his eyes moved beneath his eyelids. Sakura sighed and went to sit beside him, checking his vitals. He seemed okay, but his heart rhythm was a bit subdued and erratic. It might be a while still before he woke. Sakura wasn't sure how long now until the sun would rise, but hopefully he would rise before it. She didn't want to have to drag back an unconscious Kakashi. There wasn't a good explanation for that.

Well, there wasn't really a good explanation for this, either. Sakura folded her cloak more tightly around her, thinking of her options. She could say she'd found him and carried him slowly here, but that didn't cover everything. He'd probably hidden in the first place because he knew he was being pursued, and she wasn't sure she could explain away several angry ninja without mentioning her kunoichi skills.

She should just leave. He was fairly safe here, and she didn't doubt his ability to find his way back. Still, the thought of leaving him here alone, unconscious and still fighting the damages done to his system… Sakura couldn't do that. It had been her feelings for him that had saved his life and allowed her to discover Denna in the first place. _Once he shows signs of returning to consciousness, I'll leave before he wakes fully,_ she told herself. That way she would be assured he was healthy and she wouldn't have to explain anything. Easy enough.

Sakura felt her eyelids slide shut heavily. She jerked them open. Maybe not. Using her chakra to filter through his blood as long as it had taken to remove the trace amounts of poison had really exhausted her.

"Awake," she told herself to be. If Kakashi woke up when she was asleep, he would have who knows how long to think of all the ways she might secretly be some sort of spy here to kill him. She didn't want that. Still, it must have been later (or earlier?) than she thought, as exhaustion tugged at her.

"I'll just lay down, that's all," Sakura said, trying to convince herself as she laid down a good foot away from Kakashi. His breathing was low and heavy from beside her, and she refused to let her mind wander to the way his face might look like if she just reached over and pulled down his mask, or what it would feel like if she curled up against him…

_No!_ Sakura mentally slapped herself out of it. She began to force herself to recite the names of all the bones in the human body in her mind, all the while listening to Kakashi's breathing for signs of waking. Of course, that was probably worse than counting sheep when it came to sleep. In a few minutes, Sakura was utterly unconscious.

* * *

Sakura woke suddenly, to the thud of a clump of snow falling off of a tree right above their shelter. As she realized the sound was harmless, she also realized that she'd fallen asleep. On top of that, she found herself very close to Kakashi. She had pretty much joined him under his black ANBU cloak, which was significantly warmer than her own. Of course, it helped that there was a large, warm man in it as well. Sakura found herself looking right at the dark material of the shirt unfortunately covering his chest, and as sleep drained quickly from her head, she realized their limbs were quite entangled. Panic fluttered in her chest. Not that she wanted to move anytime soon. Kakashi's hands rested on the small of her back. Where her head was resting she could hear his steady heart beat. Now as she was waking up, something changed, as the beat of his heart picked up some speed. Still, Sakura was pleased to find that it sounded healthy.

She knew he was awake, and he probably knew she was as well. Yet for several heartbeats, neither of them moved. Then Kakashi lifted his hands to hold her face gingerly, lifting it up to face him.

"I know you're awake," he said lowly, his voice rumbling in his chest. Sakura felt her mind halt, unable to think as she looked up into Kakashi's eyes - one dark and heated, the other red and swirling very slowly. As she processed his words, she forced herself to look away. She found her mind cleared some, and she forced herself to remember who she was. Sayuri. She needed a good excuse, and fast.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, pushing away from him and escaping from his cloak with some effort. "I… must have gotten cold."

"Hm," Kakashi said, his hands letting her go after only a slight hesitation.

Outside, it had snowed a great amount, and her breath hung in front of her face like a ghost. Light was just beginning to touch the horizon. It wouldn't be too long before the sky was pink with sunrise and her team would be up and about, heading to the health clinic. Sakura felt the inevitable question coming, but she stood up like all was normal, brushing herself clean of snow and pine needles.

"Sayuri, why am I here?" Kakashi asked her levelly, standing behind her silently. Sakura pursed her lips. The events of the night were still jumbling about in her head, and it didn't help her to clear her thoughts waking up the way she had.

"You were poisoned. I took it out of your system and brought you to a safer place. That's all," Sakura told him. Kakashi was silent for a moment.

"Sayuri, last I knew I had five angry thieves on my tail and I was far outside of Touna. How did you find me there? More importantly, how on earth could you get me out so quickly?" Kakashi speculated flatly, though there was something about the way he said it all that made it sound like some impressive feat. Sakura tried not to let the pride swell her head. It wasn't _that_ difficult… She glared determinedly into the silent forest.

"I don't know what happened with the thieves," Sakura hedged in her best innocent Sayuri. "All I know is I found you when I was taking a walk in the woods. You were sick, so I healed you. It wasn't far to drag you to this spot from there." She thanked the heavens that new snow had fallen last night. Explaining the giant bird footprints might have gotten tricky.

Sakura chanced a glance at Kakashi to see him watching her thoughtfully. He reached over and picked something off of her cloak. It was a tan, downy feather. Kakashi frowned a little like he was trying to remember something, and Sakura felt fear slide down her back - ice cold. There was no way he'd been conscious enough at that point to remember anything… Right? After a moment he flicked it away with a dismissive blink, and Sakura had to hold in her sigh of relief.

"Hm," he said simply. There was nothing about the way he said it that made Sakura think she had fooled him. For all he knew, she'd been _with_ the thieves last night. Still, she refused to say anything more. It would only be digging the hole she was in even deeper to show any guilt now. For a long moment Kakashi was silent. She would have considered it one of those companionable silences if Kakashi wasn't currently deliberating on whether or not she was some spy, assassin, or something otherwise harmful.

Finally, somewhere in the distance, a bird sang a single note. Following that, the morning chorus that preluded the dawn began. Sakura thought of Gio, and Naka… what were they doing? How would Makoto react to the news that Denna was here?

"Well, we should probably be getting back," Kakashi said casually. Sakura blinked but took it in stride, fastening her cloak more securely around her.

"Where's my ANBU mask?" Kakashi asked. Sakura stood up and watched as he looked around for it. She laughed as she saw it stuck in his hood on his back, reaching up to grab it.

"It's in y -" Sakura stopped short and the laugh was strangled in her throat when he whirled on her. He grabbed her wrist before she could take the mask out. There was a hard, searching look in his eyes now. Apparently his nonchalance had been an act. Her lies put him on edge. Only now did it sink in that this was Kakashi Hatake. He actually was a dangerous man, when he wanted to be. Adrenaline coursed through her, and she was instantly calculating escape routes. If she had to fight him off, could she? Sakura wasn't sure.

"Y-your hood," she choked out. She bit her lip and looked away feebly, even though she really wanted to snap out of his hold and find something hard to defend herself with. Of course she could see his logic. Kakashi already knew well enough that she wasn't here for what she was supposed to be, and now he knew she was still hiding something. Sakura had been foolish to wait around to make sure he was healthy. She'd really stuck her foot in a bear trap falling asleep like that.

Still, she didn't regret it. Nothing seemed clearer to her now than the fact that her feelings for Kakashi were what had lead her to discover Denna. Makoto had chosen her for a reason, and Sakura was sure now that this was it. Sakura cared for Kakashi, and whether or not that meant she got sent off the mission, she would protect him. If she had to do it, she would save him again. Just remembering the way his feet had poked out feebly from under that snow-covered rock empowered her confidence in her decision.

With that thought strengthening her, Sakura looked back up at him as he reached up and grabbed the mask out of his hood with his other hand. Kakashi had an unfathomable look in his eyes, both of which were open, and then she found herself only looking into the pale, cherubic face of a white cat.

He released her wrist and then gestured outward.

"Ladies first," he said in a stone-cold voice. Sakura felt her shoulders tighten, but did as she was told and walked in front of him towards the town. Kakashi walked behind her, like a true guard might, but she felt more like a prisoner than anything. She knew it was silly, but it hurt her for him to treat her so coldly. With each step that he followed her in that unfeeling way, Sakura felt worse.

They weren't actually very far from town, so even walking it didn't take long to get there. Sakura kept her shoulders square the whole time, not looking back even though she so itched to.

When they reached the town, Sakura headed back to her hotel without hesitation. She had no doubt Kakashi was still trying to figure out what to do with troublesome, confusing little Sayuri. While he figured that out, she was going to do her job and complete her mission. Hopefully Makoto would have some good advice for her when she got back to Konoha - if she got that far.

Outside the hotel, Sakura saw Kurenai waiting. It was hardly dawn, but she was fully-dressed and looking quite alert.

"Sayuri," Kurenai called out when she spotted her, concern in her voice. Sakura waved in response, not even daring to fake a smile. Her emotions were all over the place with Kakashi still walking behind her silently, so it was difficult enough to keep her face impassive.

"Are you two alright? I got your note," Kurenai said to Kakashi. Sakura could feel the weight of his gaze on the back of her head, but ignored it.

"Fine," Sakura said. Kurenai didn't miss the heavy silence that came from Kakashi, but after considering him for a moment she seemed to let her thoughts pass with a shrug.

"Well, Kaede and Itsuko already headed over to open early," Kurenai told her, only glancing at the looming Kakashi once. "You're free to take some rest and join us as soon as you can. Mid-morning, at the latest."

"Thank you," Sakura said. She didn't need to rest, but maybe with some time alone she could find a way to talk to Naka. Sakura headed into the hotel and up towards her room. Kakashi didn't follow.

* * *

Kurenai was giving him that look like she knew his whole story. If only she did. Then she might be able to help him make some sense of it all.

"What was that all about? You needed her for _medical assistance_?" Kurenai said in a deadpan. Kakashi was thankful for the ANBU mask, as he hadn't needed to hide his shock upon hearing that Sayuri had forged a note from him. The fact that she could do something like that well enough to fool Kurenai in the first place was worrisome. Hiruzen may have been right after all about him underestimating his enemy. Then again, he found it hard to believe she was his enemy in the first place… A normal enemy would not have played games this long. Kakashi had given her the ultimate opportunity last night by being unconscious, and she had done nothing but save him. There had been no deception in that fact. Even if she had been a member of those teams, whatever mission she'd had by being sent to befriend him in the first place could have easily been accomplished last night.

"Uh, yeah," Kakashi said belatedly, realizing he'd gotten lost in his thoughts a moment too long. Kurenai blinked at him, and then smirked.

"Oh, I see now. Is that what you men are calling it these days? Medical assistance?" Kurenai scoffed, letting out a short peal of laughter. Kakashi didn't miss the suggestive undertone there, but he ignored it.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said flatly. He didn't have the mental stamina to play a round of innuendoes with Kurenai. There were some things he needed to figure out. Her red eyes looked a little confused, but Kakashi ignored that as he leapt away to a secluded rooftop. Once there, he took a seat and let himself think.

Kakashi was sure of two things.

One, Sayuri was not who she acted to be. He had thought that her subdued manner was merely an attempt at being polite and feminine. Now he could see it was much more. She was trying to hide how capable and cunning of a woman she really was. Just how great her skills were was hard for Kakashi to tell from his few intuitions about it, but based on the events of last night they must be great. She had carried him a great distance against the will of those skilled thieves, and on top of that she had removed a very fast-acting toxin out of his system completely before it caused any damage. It was quite possible she was actually a skilled kunoichi.

Two, as much as Kakashi knew that he should be wary of Sayuri and her secrets, he could not bring himself to face the idea of turning her in. The Hokage would send her back to Suna at best, and would torture her for information at worst. Both ideas made Kakashi's insides coil unpleasantly. Just thinking of it now made his fingers unconsciously tighten around the roof shingles he was sitting on. Confusing and worrisome as her true skills and purpose were, he couldn't deny that she was a good person.

Kakashi was an excellent shinobi in part due to his ability to read people, and never once had he felt ill intentions from her before. Even when she'd hit him upside the head the day he met her, there had been a sort of love in it. For all the angry flashes in her eyes, there had been even more warm looks and smiles. He had been incredulous of the fact at the time, but each day he spent with her only confirmed her virtue. On top of that, it had become clear to him, when he'd snatched her hand away from his hood and seen that resolute look in her shining green eyes, that he could never bring himself to hurt her. After getting to know her now, there was an ease to which he could distinguish her "nice" smiles from her genuine ones, and many towards him had been genuine. He even saw that when she looked away or mumbled an apology, her jaw would tense or her eyes would flash. It showed her hidden inner strength, though Kakashi knew that to most others her subtle slips would be lost on them. Despite the suspicion he felt towards her need to hide who she was from him, Kakashi felt the need to protect her more than the need to persecute her.

Other than that, the ANBU member was at a loss. There were thousands of possibilities as to why Sayuri was in Konoha and why she might be befriending him, some harmless and some very troublesome. Despite that, when he thought of those possibilities and tried to match them to that warm smile and the compassion in her gentle hands, Kakashi simply couldn't see it.

Besides, even if he was sure she was up to no good, he wasn't so sure he wanted to let Ibiki take care of it. Already he found his mind drifting to replay that quiet moment in their little shelter together, when she had breathed his name so softly in her sleep. It was a shame she'd had to wake up.

Suddenly, he recognized a certain man walking down the street. His shoulders were slumped and his short, dark hair had an odd cow-lick just by his left eyebrow. The way he moved lacked true confidence, though he tried to feign it. It was Makoto, with a large pack on his back. Kakashi stiffened, watching the man from Suna meander down the street. He stopped in front of Sayuri's hotel and seemed to consider it for a long moment. Then he walked in. He had come all the way here, to see Sayuri? Did she know? Was she looking forward to it?

Kakashi hesitated only a moment. He was supposed to be the guard for this trip, wasn't he? Kakashi let himself in through a hallway window and began to make his way down towards the lobby. He would just be rid of silly Makoto, and that would be that.

* * *

The next morning, Makoto was alone in his bed, though the sheets still smelled like her. Peaches. The occasional sound of dishes clinking came from the kitchen, and so he walked out of the bedroom.

When he slipped his arms around Ino's waist from behind, his stomach filled with dread as he felt her stiffen uncomfortably. She shoved him off deftly and turned around to face him, holding a soapy dish between them. Her blue eyes scanned his face for only a millisecond before there was a flash of understanding there.

"Oh shit, not again," she said. Makoto felt like he was falling. It had been a fake. Again. A fake that had somehow found out the password. Yet it had felt so real, and now he was looking into the eyes of his lover to find they had gone cold. _Damn this mission to hell._

"She knew the password," he said feebly, suddenly very conscious that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Ino seemed alarmed at that, but she turned around quickly.

"Don't worry, we'll handle this," Ino told him, like a doctor comforting a terminal patient. Makoto didn't even bother to pretend like he felt better.

"Sayuri sent a message last night when you were passed out," Ino continued, impervious to the dark cloud following Makoto around the kitchen, "saying that she spotted Denna in Touna."

Makoto stood up straighter, grateful for something else to focus on. He close his eyes for a moment and touched his amulet for a moment. The vast majority of holes in time and space that one could travel through went to inconsequential places, such as thirty miles under the surface of the planet. However, a rare opportunity seemed to become clear as he scanned through them.

"I think I can get there and back today," he said as he headed swiftly to his bedroom to prepare.

* * *

Sakura didn't even open her eyes when she heard Naka's almost silent landing on the windowsill. From where she lay on the bed in her hotel room, she could almost pretend that last night had never happened. Of course, she could never escape for very long before a memory brought her back. That cold grip of Kakashi's on her wrist, in stark contrast with his gentle hands holding her face only moments before…

"Sayuri," Naka's calm voice came lowly from a closer spot, inside. Sakura's eyes snapped open in surprise. She hadn't heard the owl move from the sill, but now she was perched on the edge of the bed.

"Did you tell Makoto?" Sakura asked, pushing up onto her elbows.

"He did not respond when I tapped his window, so I contacted Izumi. She has probably told him by this time. I did not wait for his response because I worried you might need me here," Naka said. For once, she actually seemed to look a little tired. Then again, it was mid-morning, and the bird must have been flying all night.

"Well, thank you, Naka, but I'm really okay. You can get some rest," Sakura told her with a gentle smile. Naka didn't seem to need anymore encouragement. With only a pause to check if the coast was clear, she soared out. Sakura followed her to the window, and was surprised to see Makoto in the street. _Quick,_ she admired mentally. He was looking up at her, and she gave him a grim smile and a wave. His lips twitched, but that was all before he headed into the lobby below. Sakura watched him go, still amazed at his ability to get here so quickly. Then again, he was a master of time and space.

It was unlikely that the innkeeper would let some stranger up, so Sakura slipped her shoes back on and headed down. As she walked down the steps, she could already hear the low tones of Makoto's voice.

She was not shocked to see Kakashi barring the way. She had a feeling it was going to be highly difficult for anyone to talk to her with him watching her every move like a hawk - friend or not.

"Makoto," Sakura said aloud, as if this was the first time she'd seen him. "What are you doing here?" It pleased her to see Kakashi visibly stiffen in surprise. He didn't turn his head when she approached, but Sakura knew better than that. She could feel his eyes on her.

"Oh, just doing a little traveling. I thought I'd stop by and say hello," Makoto said convincingly enough, though it was a bad enough lie that Sakura knew he hadn't been expecting to run into anyone he'd have to lie to. _Some master of time and space he is,_ she thought. It seemed that the moments her team leader amazed her only set him up to be a bigger let-down when all of his other skills were fairly average.

"Why don't you come up to my room and we can have some tea?" Sakura said with a smile. Makoto returned her smile, but glanced at Kakashi who was still looming behind her. She turned to him as if she'd just remembered the guard.

"It's okay, this is my friend, Makoto," she told him, overly polite. _As if he doesn't know,_ she thought bitterly. There was an awkward silence that followed. Kakashi shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"I'm sorry, I can't allow a stranger up to the rooms," Kakashi said in a formal tone. As if it was just mission policy. Sakura huffed a low breath. Of course it still made the hair on the back of her neck stand up to be under such close scrutiny by the copy ninja, but she really needed to speak with Makoto. This was a pivotal point in their mission.

"Don't be absurd. He's not a stranger. Come on up, Makoto" Sakura said, acting unfazed. She grabbed Makoto's hand and began to walk past Kakashi. After only a few steps she felt the time-traveler stop in his tracks. Kakashi had put a strong hand on Makoto's shoulder.

"It's not just your room. I am telling you he can not go up," Kakashi said, deadly serious. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. Makoto pulled his hand away from hers quickly, suddenly looking very nervous. It seemed like short of knocking him out, they were not going to get by the overly-helpful ANBU guard.

"It's alright Sayuri, I should keep going anyways. It was nice to see you," Makoto said quickly, backing away out of Kakashi's grip. Sakura just watched in frustration as Kakashi put his hands back in his pockets like he'd saved someone's life today. As Makoto walked off, she saw him subtly massage his shoulder where Kakashi had stopped him.

"What was that all about?" Sakura turned on Kakashi, jabbing him in the chest with a finger. She was relieved to find he didn't grab her hand away like the last time she'd reached for him.

"I'm your guard," Kakashi said simply from behind that damned mask. At least with his normal mask she could read his eyes.

"Hardly," she ground out, not needing to remind him who had saved him from his own failed mission last night. He stiffened.

"You shouldn't be letting him treat you that way. I'm just looking out for your own good," Kakashi scolded. Sakura wasn't sure, but she thought he sounded a little defensive as well. She could only blink dumbly at that, and she felt the anger falter a little on her face. She had almost forgotten what Kakashi thought she felt for Makoto.

"He treats me just fine," Sakura said stubbornly.

"Please," Kakashi said, "do you think you're special to him? What makes you think he would leave Izumi for you? I've seen this before, Sayuri. You're just going to get hurt. You should stay away from him." Sakura felt her mouth drop open in surprise. Was that really his concern? Not that she was plotting some disastrous takeover of Konoha? If only they could be having this conversation when he wasn't wearing that ANBU mask; she was dying to know the expression on his face. She wasn't sure what to say. It was too preoccupying to think that he might care for her enough to stop her from being with Makoto… or at least be jealous enough. From any other man, implying that Makoto wouldn't leave Izumi for her might have come off as an insult, but she could see beyond that sentence. Kakashi was trying to stop her from being with Makoto. He cared.

"It's not like that with him," she finally said, figuring it better to keep up her unrequited love bit. "Besides, what do you care? It's none of your business." Sakura knew well enough that he wouldn't have intervened like that if he hadn't cared in some way. Jealousy or love, whatever it was, it was too much. He only cared for Sayuri, not Sakura, and once this mission was over, Sayuri would be gone forever. Just another loved one that Kakashi Hatake would lose.

There was a long silence. Kakashi's head moved just slightly. Maybe he was stunned, or maybe he was lost deep in thought. Sakura studied his blank mask as if it would give her answers, but there was nothing there.

"Sayuri…" Kakashi started. His voice was husky, and Sakura could sense this was going in the wrong direction again. He shouldn't care about her, and she shouldn't be leading him on. Whoever Sayuri was, this girl Kakashi might be having feelings for, it was not her. She was Sakura Haruno - pink-haired, strong, and stubborn. She knew what Denna looked like now, and soon Sayuri would be gone. It would be better for him if she ignored him from now on, and let his feelings fizzle out. He would not remember Sayuri but as an odd blip in his timeline.

"I ought to be getting to the hospital," she said coldly. Sakura walked away without looking back.

* * *

_S,_

_Don't do anything more. Just come back to Konoha immediately. You are too closely watched there._

_-M_

The message in the small note was clear enough to Sakura; Makoto didn't want her to follow Denna. He had managed to slip it into the pocket of her medical uniform sometime before she had gotten to work, and Sakura had promptly destroyed it upon reading. Still, she wished she hadn't read it. They were so close to Denna, and the chance of finding her again was slipping away with each passing moment.

Makoto was her team leader though, and Sakura had to trust his abilities to understand the way time worked. She had done a great amount already, and so she should just praise herself for that.

All through work that day, Sakura focused on her patients. She kept the conversation flowing, which kept her mind off of Kakashi for the most part. There were still less patients than the day before, so she was forced to find other activities to keep her mind occupied. Sakura even talked to Itsuko at great lengths. Anything was better than imagining the way Kakashi had held her early that morning, with all the tenderness and passion of a lover. It drove her mad, how much she wanted that back. For the most of the day, she managed well. It was only when night finally came and Kaede gave her a strong hint to stop asking silly questions that the thoughts consumed her. Where was Kakashi now? Was he thinking of her?

It was a long, fitful night. The next morning, Kaede had several large, purple bruises on her legs.

"Sayuri, geez! What happened last night?" Kaede was saying in astonishment as she ran her hands over the marks.

"Oh, sometimes I kick in my sleep," Sakura said with a sheepish laugh. She helped Kaede heal the bruises before the girls got ready and packed up their things. Today they would head back to Konoha. The anticipation of seeing Kakashi again coiled like snakes in her stomach.

Once they had packed everything, they headed out. It was only shortly down the trail that Kakashi joined them, his cloak pinned around his neck but pushed back over his shoulders to show his bare arms in the bleak winter sunlight. He seemed to look at her closely, even as he gave a little nod in greeting to Kurenai. Sakura touched her hair self-consciously, checking for leaves. There should be no excuses for anyone to touch her today, Kakashi most of all.

By the time they reached Konoha, the sun was lowly skimming the trees and Itsuko had a tired slump to his shoulders. Sakura felt warmed-up after the gentle walk, but the rest of the team mumbled their goodbyes in a tired manner as they parted ways at the town gate. Normally, this would be the time she would be writing up a report, but as a shadow she didn't have to. It felt oddly anti-climactic.

When Sakura got to her apartment, she found that Hinata was still wearing her medic uniform, reminding her that life had gone on while she was away. The kunoichi was busying herself with something in the kitchen.

"Welcome home," Hinata said as Sakura let her bag fall to the floor with a thump.

"Thanks," Sakura replied, kicking off her shoes. "Where are Izumi and Makoto?" She had at least expected Makoto to be here to ask her about Denna. The following silence made her look up more seriously.

"Izumi's still at work," Hinata answered after a moment, but she was looking away. "Makoto will be gone for the next few days. He is bringing a family member of his to this time."

"What? What happened?" Sakura asked.

"We think the henge user visited Makoto again. It was last night," Hinata said quietly. Sakura thought about this, remembering his dejected look when she'd spoken to him after the first time it had happened. It was odd that he hadn't mentioned it when he'd come by Touna that day.

"What about the pass code?" Sakura started.

"She knew it," Hinata said, even more quietly. Sakura felt her brow furrow.

"How?" Sakura said slowly. There was a long, uncomfortable silence that followed. Hinata met her gaze and seemed to mirror her own worries in her false brown eyes.

"It's deeply troubling, to say the least," Hinata responded, not really answering her question. Sakura slumped down in a chair, pondering that.

"Poor Makoto," she said. There was a moment of silence after that.

"Yes, poor Makoto," Hinata agreed solemnly.

* * *

"Ah, Kakashi, this report is… shorter than usual. And that's really saying something," Hiruzen said with a frustrated sigh.

"Do you want me to rewrite it?" Kakashi asked with a lazy blink. Hiruzen seemed only more frustrated at that question. It was likely he knew well enough that asking Kakashi to rewrite it would only get him the same report, just slightly reworded.

"No, just explain this to me… You said the woman in the team managed to figure out your identity and your shadow clone instantly. How?"

"I'm not sure. It was no technique I've ever encountered before. I didn't spend too much time trying to figure it out either," Kakashi responded honestly. "As soon as I had the scrolls and box, I fled the scene. I was lucky to be able to do so." The report had failed to include the fact that it hadn't been luck, but a mysterious girl from Suna. He no longer felt conflicted about keeping her secret - whatever it was.

She liked him more than she knew. Kakashi had felt it that morning. She had said _his_ name in her sleep. It was just going to take a little convincing, and then things would work out. Despite his identity being revealed and having narrowly escaped being captured, he was actually feeling pretty good. After all, he still owed Sayuri a visit to return her book. That was enough to have him wearing a subtle smile under his mask throughout the day.

* * *

The next few days went normal as usual. Sakura fell back into the rhythm of shadowing at the hospital easily. In the evenings, she, Hinata, and Ino talked on how they would teach Makoto to sense a disguise and how they might otherwise protect him. It almost felt normal to be thirteen years in the past. There were moments where she couldn't differentiate this Konoha with the one she had grown up in, and then she would catch a glimpse of someone she knew, or even worse someone who was dead. It was eerie.

Sakura had been entirely on edge upon returning, expecting a masked squadron to appear to imprison her at any moment. With each day that passed, she grew more surprised and more nervous. She was surprised that nothing had happened yet, and nervous that this might only be because something even worse than she could imagine was on its way. It certainly didn't help her sleep at night. She'd taken to letting Gio spend his nights in her bed with her, even if it was only for her peace of mind.

On the second day, Makoto had managed to send a note through a very small hole in time. In it he told them to prepare to leave for the holidays. The hospital would be granting them some vacation time over the winter, and during it they would be 'visiting Suna,' which the three girls had agreed was most likely code for 'searching for Denna.'

By the fourth day, Sakura figure herself safe. It seemed that for some reason, Kakashi hadn't snitched on her. There was no way the Hokage would take the report of what had really happened lightly, so Sakura could only conclude that Kakashi had lied. Though he never showed his face, she often got the feeling that he was around, watching. There was even one day when she came home to hear from Gio that Kakashi had snuck into her room. Sakura found no hint of him having been there, but it was peculiar nonetheless. In her dreams, he appeared with either one of two faces - harsh, cold, unyielding scrutiny, or the other of heated, agonizing desire. Both left her waking up panting and twisted in her sheets, albeit for entirely different reasons.

To make matters worse, Rouri had been mysteriously absent from work all week. Sakura didn't quite believe she was sick as the rest of the employees at the hospital did, but she could hardly go about raising her skepticism there. Ino and Hinata showed a more appropriate concern, as they too had thought it suspicious that Rouri had been in Touna at the same time as Denna. In the end though, they could think of no good reason for Rouri to be there without guessing, so they let the thought rest.

On her last day of work for the week, Kaede was kind enough to let Sakura leave early to get some extra time to pack before her winter holiday visit back to 'Suna.'

"How long will you be gone again?" Kaede asked as Sakura was packing up her things.

"Two weeks," Sakura said. "Unfortunately, nearly half of that will be travel time."

"It's a pity your family can't all just come here. Does it snow in Suna?" Kaede said. Sakura had found that ever since they had bonded some over their trip to Touna, the medic had been much more friendly. Kaede blinked after a moment and let out a laugh. "I guess that's a silly question. It's the desert!" Sakura laughed along with her, somewhat appreciative she didn't have to pretend like she knew Suna so well.

When she got back to her apartment, Sakura was surprised to see not two people but four. Ino, Hinata, and Makoto were there, along with another girl. They were sitting around her kitchen table playing a card game, as if their worries were so trivial.

"I'm back," Sakura called out as she closed her door behind her. Everyone turned to face her.

"Sayuri, this is my little sister, Shoukichi," Makoto said with a lazy gesture towards her.

"Maakootooo, I told you not to call me that…" The girl mumbled at her older brother. Now that she could see her face, Sakura could see she was quite young. She hardly looked a day over twelve. "Just call me Shiki," the girl told Sakura with a wide smile.

"Hi, Shiki," Sakura said with a genuine smile. Shiki had a fox-like face similar to Makoto, except her cheeks were a bit rounder. She had the same pitch-black hair, though hers was long and she wore thick bangs over her forehead. She was clothed in simple attire, and had a deep blue stone pendant hanging from her neck that made Sakura think of Makoto's black one. It must hold significance with their abilities somehow. More striking than all of her put together was the way her eyes looked - multi-colored zigzags and corkscrews all winding around each other. The details were so fine and intricate that from afar her eyes appeared as a single, flat brown. In reality they held a multitude of greens, browns, greys and blues all patterned together. Shiki's eyes made Makoto's look absolutely normal. It was so distinct that she wondered if this family had a doujutsu after all.

"Oh, you were right Makoto, she is odd," Shiki said, examining Sakura as closely as Sakura examined her. She felt her eyebrow twitch. They were definitely related.

"Don't start on the colors thing again," Sakura said, rolling her eyes.

"Eh? Colors?" Shiki snorted.

"I told you, it's not exactly colors," Makoto sighed. Shiki just clicked her tongue and placed two cards face-down on the table.

"Whatever," Sakura said, resigned. She flopped onto her small couch, where she watched them play their game.

"HEY! You can't do that!" Ino shouted suddenly, slamming a hand on the table. Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin.

"S-sorry…" Hinata mumbled, de-activating her Byakugan. Sakura smirked. She'd never seen Hinata be competitive before, but there it was. As the card game went on, it became quite apparent that Shiki was winning by a landslide.

"I give up. Playing with Shoukichi is so unfair," Makoto finally said, dropping his cards in the middle of the table. The mentioned girl stuck out her lower lip in a pout at the name.

"Seriously, what's with you?" Ino moaned, setting down her cards as well.

"I can't help it," Shiki said, and there was such a mature sadness in her tone that a moment of pause followed it.

"This is why I brought her on this mission. While her traveling skills are poor, she is very good at… seeing, for lack of a better word," Makoto said.

"No, I know a better word. Knowing. With seeing, you could close your eyes and not see. You can't not know, and that's how it is for me. When I look at or touch something, I know where it's been, and where it will go," Shiki said solemnly.

"So you can tell the future," Ino said, slack-jaw in awe.

"Yes and no," Shiki said. "Some things and people have a clear, set path. Others are not so clear, and when the paths diverge into multiple possibilities, my guess is as good as anyone's. Some of the things that happen are supposed to happen, meaning they already have happened and never stop happening. These events are structured. Other things that happen are random, meaning that each time they can happen a little differently. These events are more chaotic. They're the kinds of things that you might change in the future if you do something wrong here in the past."

There was a pause after that. Ino was scratching her chin and looking confused. Sakura just furrowed her brow, moving to sit up straight on the couch as she listened to Shiki. The girl was mature for her age, but there was still an indignant way she spoke that showed it. Sakura couldn't imagine the kinds of things one person might see with such an ability - both horrible and beautiful. It must be humbling for such a young girl. Then again, that was the same age she herself had been learning how to move silently and kill an opponent without being detected, so maybe Shiki wasn't so bad off.

"Why are some things unchangeable and some things changeable?" Sakura asked, curious now. Shiki sighed exasperatedly.

"Nobody's sure why. Some people in my family believe it has to do with people. They believe that people have some greater power, be it their soul or whatever, that allows them to choose their path in time. They think that when the first conscious choice was made, that cast off a chain of events that were random and changeable. Of course, there's no proof for or against that theory, so it's arguable. Everything's theory at this point. Our family isn't exactly made of scientists and researchers, and few others know of our ability," Shiki said. As she spoke, she was creating a pyramid of cards that seemed to defy gravity.

"Grandpa still thinks it's because of Uranium in the water supply," Makoto said with a chuckle. Shiki gave a genuinely amused smile at that, making her look younger. Sakura was still curious and wanted to ask more, but there was a weariness to Shiki that made her hold back her prodding.

"So we're going to Suna tomorrow, right?" Sakura said instead.

"Ah yeah, we're going to leave mid-afternoon tomorrow," Makoto said. "Konoha insists they escort us until we're out of Fire country, so we'll have to double back after the escorts are gone."

"Double back where?" Sakura asked, the only one out of the loop.

"Touna," Makoto responded simply. It was nearly the opposite direction from Suna.

"That's a ways to go," Sakura sighed. Not that it would be difficult. Just tedious.

"It's going to take forever!" Shiki groaned, knocking her whole card structure over. The table was a smattering of red, black, and white.

"Seriously," Ino agreed, adding her cards. Hinata pursed her lips, quietly beginning to pick up the cards and put them in a neat stack. Sakura realized something then, and a slow smile grew on her face.

"I think I have a solution for us," she said.


End file.
